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LIFE AND CHARACTER 



OP 



PETER COOPER 



BY 



C. EDWARDS LESTER 



(Copyright, 1883, by JOHN B. ALDEN) 



y of 



NEW YORK 

JOHN B. ALDEN, PUBLISHER 

1883 



OFFERING. 



Many a time during my somewhat prolonged author- 
ship, have I been called on to portray the lives of the 
great and good with whose acquaintance and friendship 
I had been honored. But never have I responded to 
such a request with so much alacrity and cheerfulness, 
as when I was asked to pay some literary Tribute to my 
beloved friend, the late Peter Cooper. 

I knew him well for more than a quarter of a century, 
and my veneration and love for him grew with every 
year. And now, when some of the illusions of life have 
faded for me, and all of them for him, and I survey him 
robed in his fadeless garments beyond the tomb, I can- 
not withhold from him the unbidden homage: Hail! 
Thou purest and noblest of men! 

He needs neither eulogy nor monument. Such things 
can do nothing for him now. They may for us. His 
name will outlive all earthly memorials built by other 
hands. But to help those who are to come after us, bet- 
ter to comprehend the greatness of the man, and the 
grandeur of the legacy he left to his countrymen, and 



6 OFFERING. 

to all mankind for all time, it may be well to give some 
brief record of his life and character now, while the 
tender grass is springing for the first time over his grave, 
and he far away, in the Summer Land. 

C. E. L. 
New York, April 20, 1883. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PETER COOPER. 



HOW I INTEND TO WRITE THIS SKETCH. 

Next to an intimate personal knowledge of a man 
who rises above the common level, is such an account 
of his life and occupations, so truthfully written, as to 
enable the reader to form a just estimate of his charac- 
ter. This is all I attempt to do in this brief record. 

The chief portion of my materials are drawn from 
notes and observations jotted down at intervals during 
my acquaintance with the man, with such citations 
from the statements of others worthy of implicit reliance. 

My object is to write such a sketch as will make the 
reader feel, when he gets through, that he knows Peter 
Cooper almost as well as I did. 

Here is the great charm of portraiture. That painter 
succeeds best who not only copies with fidelity the form 
and features of his sitter, but transfuses into the canvas 
the character, the intellect, and very soul of the man he 
delineates. This he must do with the integrity of the 
photograph, but he must do what the photographer 
never has done, and probably never can do — interpret 
the character of the sitter, which can be limned only by 
the cunning pencil of genius. It has, therefore, always 
seemed to me, that the most satisfactory biographies are 
those which are written very much as the best portraits 



8 PETER COOPER. 

are painted by the artist who comprehends the charac- 
ter of his subject, who catches the characteristics flashed 
from the soul of his sitter and transfers them to the can- 
vas. 

Later biographies may be written with more philoso- 
phical analysis, or fascination ; the style may be wrought 
into classical perfection, and the mind of the reader may 
be charmed by a gifted writer of genius who lives long 
after the subject of his biography has passed away. 
But to take a single instance. It is very doubtful if a 
careful reader of Boswell's Johnson ever gets so clear an 
idea of the great lexicographer's mind and characteristics 
from all his other biographies, as he gets from Boswell. 

The only motive, therefore, which inspires me in this 
unpretending sketch, is to do with my subject what may 
prove to' my reader the same kind of satisfaction he feels 
in looking at a well-executed portrait in oil, marble, or 
bronze. 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY STRUGGLES. 

i. 

No man reaches great eminence without the favor of 
fortune. He did not make himself. And if he is richly 
gifted with the benefience of kind Providence, or a ge- 
nial destiny (by which I mean the same thing), he will 
find his road prepared for him on his way to success. 
He may often be confronted by obstacles which he can- 
not surmount, and many of his steps will be in the 
dark. He will encounter dangers that he could not fore- 
see, enemies that would work his destruction, and de- 
ceivers lying in wait for him at many a turn. Sometimes 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY STRUGGLES. 9 

the elements make war on him, and sooner or later he 
will be struck down by a blow too strong for mortal to 
resist. But, in surveying his whole life after its close, 
and the victory has been won, he will see where all his 
pull-backs only the better prepared him for his journey, 
and that, like Antaeus in the struggle, he grew stronger 
with every fall. 

ii. 

In the highest sense of the term, he was fortunate in 
his parentage and ancestry. He sprang from the best 
stock that England and Scotland ever knew, trans- 
planted to the new world long before young Cooper's 
birth. Indeed, of no orders that heraldry records among 
titles and honors conferred by royal hands, had he any 
knowledge among his forebears. They were rich only 
in what they won by honest toil, and from them he in- 
herited the noblest qualities which exalt humanity. 

His great-grandfather was the fourth male child born 
in Dutchess County. His grandfather was a soldier in 
the Revolution, holding the rank of Deputy Quarter- 
master General, and his own father served honorably 
in that Revolution, retiring at its close with the rank of 
Lieutenant, he resumed the prosecution of his trade as 
a hatter — a business he had before mastered. 

John Campbell, the father of Peter Cooper's mother, 
was a well-to-do tile and pot-maker — his pottery stand- 
ing near the site of St. Paul's Church on Broadway. 
He saw several years' service in the Board of Aldermen, 
when the best citizens alone were chosen for the legis- 
lative body of the City of New York. 

We know of no higher nobility than for an American 
to reckon among his ancestors, the builders of the Ameri- 
can Republic. 



10 PETER COOPER. 



ill. 

While the ex-lieutenant Cooper was making and 
selling hats in a shop in Little Dock Street, a son was 
born to him, whom he named Peter, after the Great 
Apostle, with a full conviction that "the boy would 
come to something," and with the conscientious con- 
viction that he had been instructed to do so by what 
he firmly believed to be a celestial vision. If it were 
but a superstition, the probability seems very strong 
that somebody was right. 

In those days larger families grew up than we often 
witness now. Peter was the fifth of nine children, of 
whom seven were boys. He seemed not to inherit a 
strong constitution, and in his case, as in so many 
others, the fact that he reached so advanced an age 
could be attributed only to his living so natural a life; 
that he subjected himself to no influences or exposures 
which cut off the great mass of men in civilized coun- 
tries from living out their natural lives. He owed his 
longevity chiefly to himself. 

From his delicacy of constitution chiefly, he was 
never able to endure the confinement of school; in fact 
he never attended school more than one year, and then 
only a portion of the time for a part of the day. 
Owing to this cause more than to the poverty of his 
father, he was deprived of all school training. But this 
turned out in after years a blessing, although he could 
never so regard it, for one of the deepest influences 
that shaped his character and acts, was the high esti- 
mate he put upon knowledge, which he was not able to 
obtain in his boyhood, and to this fact we owe the ex- 
istence of the Cooper Institute. He often said to his 
friends that he was dciermined, as far as in him lay, to 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY STRUGGLES. 11 

save as many young people as lie could, from what he 
called his misfortune — the lack of early education. 
This is one of the instances in which some of the great- 
est gifts of fortune turn out to have been blessings 
in disguise; for who, in looking at this feeble stripling, 
who owed nothing to the schools, would have foreseen 
the birth of an inspiration for learning, which we are 
accustomed to attribute only to the benign impulses 
that spring from an early education? But he persisted 
to the last in regarding " the lack of schooling" as the 
great misfortune of his life. "If I could have had 
such advantages as we can give the poorest boy now, 
how much more could I have done!" These words 
often fell from his lips. 

rv. 

The time of a man's birth often has great influence 
upon his character and fortunes. Peter was born at an 
auspicious period, which was to inaugurate a new era 
for mankind. The Federal Constitution had been 
adopted in 1789. Washington had been elected Presi- 
dent of the new Republic, and the first year of his 
administration was not yet completed. The French 
Revolution, which was supposed to have sounded the 
death-knell of monarchy in Europe, had opened a new 
order of things in the political world. The French 
Monarchy had been abolished, and its king's head was 
about to roll from the block of the guillotine. Begin- 
ning thus his life with the foundation of the Republic, 
their two lives were to glide on side by side during the 
first century of their existence — a century transcending 
in interest and importance to the human race, any other 
hundred years in the history of the world. 

During this long period there were few closer ob- 



12 PETER COOPER, 

servers of events, and fewer still who sympathized 
more deeply with the advancement of government and 
society, than Peter Cooper. With no proclivity to 
classical or philosophical learning, he was through life 
a diligent student of human affairs, and nothing that 
concerned the well-being of his fellow-men escaped his 
notice, from his nearest neighbors to the mightiest 
changes in the condition of nations. So that, while he 
could not be called a man of learning, he was preemi- 
nently a man of knowledge. He was an untiring stu- 
dent of nature and art; the mingling of those two made 
up his whole life; they culminated at last in the Insti- 
tute which represents their blending. 

v. 

In the year 1791 nothing less than the ken of a 
prophet could have foreseen what New York was to be 
within a hundred years. The island of Manhattan con- 
tained less than thirty thousand people. City Hall 
Park was a vegetable garden, and the city then was 
limited on the north to Chambers Street; people 
dressed in homespun ; there was no Fifth Avenue ; the 
wealthy families lived around Bowling Green and the 
Battery; the period of opulence, enterprise, luxury and 
art was yet to come. 

As soon as Peter was old enough to do any work, he 
and his six brothers were successively put into their 
father's hat shop to learn the trade and help the family 
to get on. For some years Peter followed his father, 
who removed from one place to another, often chang- 
ing his business, but never meeting with great success. 
At last, in his seventeenth year, stirred with a higher 
ambition, the boy came to New York to start in life for 
himself. He had accumulated ten dollars of his own 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY STRUGGLES. 13 

money, and thinking to augment it rapidly, he invested 
his capital in a lottery ticket. He lost it, of course, as 
millions of older fools have since. But he never re- 
gretted it, and he often recalled the fact with good 
humor and thankfulness, for he said it was "the 
cheapest piece of knowledge he ever bought. " Believ- 
ing that his native city was the best place for doing 
business, and knowing that the only road to success 
was by steady hard work, he found, after long search- 
ing, a place in the carriage shop of Burtis & Wood- 
ward, on the corner of Broadway and Chambers Street, 
where a great marble structure was afterwards raised 
by A. T. Stewart, and there he bound himself out as an 
apprentice until he should reach the age of twenty-one. 
He was to receive his board and a salary of twenty-five 
dollars a year. Here he began life in earnest, and he at- 
tributed his after success in a great degree, to those four 
years of steady, hard work, with the economy which 
his little earnings enforced; and during the whole time 
he not only did not run in debt one cent, but he always 
had a little money laid by. With not only a tact but 
a genius for mechanism, he became so much a master 
of his trade, and had so won the confidence of his em- 
ployers by his ability and devotion to their interests, 
that they offered to set him up in the same business in 
the Bowery. But he declined the offer; for one of his 
maxims, thus early established, was never to be in 
debt. Although he had made a number of improve- 
ments in the machinery for manufacturing carriages, 
' particularly an apparatus for making hubs, the princi- 
ple of which was embodied in later inventions, yet he 
was not satisfied with the business — "he thought he 
could do something better." The next two years 
he spent in a woollen factory at Hempstead, Long 



14 PETER COOPER. 

Island. Here he received a dollar and a half a day, 
and invented an ingenious machine for shearing the 
nap from cloth. He wisely secured a patent for this 
invention, and it had a rapid sale at the time of the 
second war with England, when woollen goods were in 
great demand. Hearing that his father was in great 
affliction from the pressure of debt, he visited the fam- 
ily at Newburg, and applied the first five hundred 
dollars he had ever earned to their relief. But he went 
on successfully manufacturing his machine, until he 
was able not only to save his father from bankruptcy, 
but to secure comfort and competence for them in the 
future. 



MARRIAGE, 
i. 

During his stay at Hempstead he had fallen in love 
with Miss Sarah Bedel, an engaging and superior girl, 
two years his junior, and they were married in 1813, 
when he was twenty-two years of age. If this mar- 
riage was not made in heaven, it brought heaven to 
the earth for Peter Cooper. In 1869 they celebrated 
the fifty-sixth anniversary of their w T edding day. 
When she died, after a life of great usefulness, a happy 
mother and a perfect wife, she was honored and la- 
mented as none but women of such rare virtue and 
beneficence ever are. Meeting Mr. Cooper after the 
funeral, when he seemed to me almost heart-broken, 
but with swimming eyes and a look of sublime resigna- 
tion, he held my hand firmly in his grasp and said 
"Yes, she has gone, she who was the day- star, the sol- 
ace and the inspiration of my life." Six children were 
born to them, four of whom died in childhood; but two 



MARRIAGE. 15 

of them still survive — Edward Cooper, who received 
the highest honor his native city could confer on him, 
as Mayor; and Mrs. Sarah Amelia Hewitt, wife of Ab- 
ram S. Hewitt, who has distinguished himself as mem- 
ber of Congress, to which he has recently been re-elected, 
and as one of the largest iron and steel manufacturers 
of the country. 

n. 

While living at Hempstead, Mr. Cooper had bought 
a^house and lot in the village, and removing to New 
York, he opened a grocery store at the Bowery and 
Rivington Street. After a year in this business, he 
bought the unexpired lease for nineteen years of the 
ground and frame buildings where the American Bible 
House now stands, fronting the massive pile of the 
Cooper Institute on the south. The situation was fa- 
vorable for trade, and he soon began to acquire wealth. 
But his aspirations were by no means limited to the 
grocery business, and one day his old friend, John 
Yreeland, — the great hardware merchant of his time, — 
in passing Mr. Cooper's store, asked him why he did 
not buy out a glue factory standing on the corner 
where the Park Avenue Hotel was afterwards to be 
built. This factory was a large structure adapted to 
an extensive business, but it had not been successfully 
managed. Acting on that hint he purchased the prop- 
erty with a long lease, paying for it in cash down. This 
was his first great step to fortune, and from that day 
until his death, he was always regarded as a rich man. 

in. 

At first blush, this frequent change of business would 
seem to indicate instability of purpose. He was thirty- 



16 PETER COOPER. 

three years old when he bought the glue factory, and 
had been in business for himself nine years, changing 
from carriage-maker to woollen-carder, and from wool- 
len-carder to inventor, then becoming a cabinet-maker, 
only to continue the business one year, when he sold 
out to open a grocery store, continuing it only twelve 
months, and finally sold out this business to carry on 
a glue factory. Six changes in nine years have very 
seldom made anybody rich, but the proof of his wis- 
dom was evident enough, for every movement was for 
the better. He had been steadily increasing his accu- 
mulations. This last change was to be permanent. He 
carried on the business in the same place for twenty-five 
years, when he built a large factory on cheaper ground, 
and he remained the best manufacturer of glue in the 
country until his death, when he left it to be carried 
on by his son. At that time all the glue manufactured 
in the United States was of an inferior quality ; most of 
it in use came from Ireland, commanding three times 
as much as the home manufacture. Mr. Cooper mas- 
tered all the facts thoroughly, going through an exten- 
sive series of experiments, until he not only surpassed 
any glue made in the world, but he got the whole glue 
trade of the country into his hands. He went through 
the same experience with isinglass, — which had been 
chiefly supplied by Russia, — with surprising success in 
this new field. The Russian isinglass cost four dollars 
a pound; he manufactured a still better article for sev- 
enty-five cents. The demand for the article rapidly in- 
creased. Isinglass was used in refining liquors and 
making jellies. This manufactory had cost him only 
$2000, but it subsequently proved the bulk of his for- 
tune up to his great ventures in after life. He carried 
on the glue and isinglass business for many years al- 



MABBIAGE. 17 

most alone. He had no bookkeeper, agent or salesman. 
Practising the extreme economy with which to the last 
he prosecuted all his business enterprises, he was found 
at his factory at break of day, lighting the fires, and 
preparing for the day's w T ork. When noon-time came 
he drove down to the city and made his sales. With 
a promptness and perseverance throughout life which 
never in a business man can be praised too highly, he 
passed all his evenings at home, posting his books, at- 
tending to his correspondence, and talking and reading 
with his wife and children. 

IV. 

For thirty years this is the history of Peter Cooper. 
That history would however be grossly inaccurate and 
misleading, if some account should not be given of 
what really constituted his higher life. His great 
heart always went out beyond himself. Neglecting no 
possible duty, courtesy or tender attention to his fam- 
ily, he was forever doing good to the poor, the desti- 
tute, the ignorant, the unfortunate and the suffering. 
None but those whom he benefited or relieved, knew of 
his benefactions. He never alluded to them himself, 
and always enjoined his poor friends " to keep the thing 
to themselves;" he hated ostentation, and never blush- 
ed so deeply, as when some person praised him for a 
good deed he had done ; it seemed to take away a part 
of the pleasure of doing it. Never did a man comply 
closer with the superb maxim of Jesus of Nazareth, 
4 'Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand 
doeth." Although multitudes of instances of his gen- 
erosity have come to my knowledge, before and during 
the period of my intimate acquaintance with him, I 
shall not go into them at all; for so great is my respect 



18 PETER COOPER. 

for his feelings, I would not willingly disregard them 
after his death, any more than I would have done dur- 
ing his life. There will be a field broad enough to il- 
lustrate bis enthusiasm for doing good, when we come 
to speak of what constituted his great deeds for the 
benefit of his fellow-men. 



INVENTION. 



Had Mr. Cooper done nothing else, his numerous 
and useful inventions would have claimed our special 
admiration. He engaged in no pursuit in which he did 
not by original invention, make certain improvements 
which greatly facilitated production, but to which he 
attached so little importance, that he allowed a large 
number of so-called improvements to be patented by 
other men, without claiming his legal rights. It was 
enough for him to know that somebody had done some 
good and he was the last man to interfere with him. 
His benevolence was so overflowing that no desire for 
acquisition ever ruffled the smooth surface of his good- 
will. I recollect an instance in point: Happening to 
control a small interest in the great Cooper Iron Works 
at Trenton many years ago, meeting him one day he 
said, "I do not feel quite easy about the amount we 
are making in the production of one thing in our works 
at Trenton. Working under one of our patents, we 
have a monopoly which seems to me something wrong, 
that we alone are manufacturing, etc. Everybody has 
to come to us for it, and we are making money too 
fast: it is not right." 



INVENTION. 19 

"Well," I replied, "you can get over that trouble 
very easily by reducing the price, even if you are not 
obliged to." 

"That is it," said he; "and it shall be done. The 
world needs this thing, and we are making them pay 
too high for it ; if it were a mere matter of fancy, or 
luxury, or taste, I should feel differently about it; but 
as it is a very necessary article I must do something 
about it." 

n. 

Among other things he had designed iron beams and 
girders to be used first of all in the Cooper Building. 
They at once went into use in the construction of large 
edifices, and have since been among the most important 
improvements in modern architecture. Another was 
iron railway seats, which went into universal use. Many 
years before this, however, he had displayed a higher 
order of mechanical genius, in the construction of the 
first locomotive made in this country designed for the 
transportation of passenger cars. He seemed to have a 
greater foresight of the work to be done by railways, 
than any man of his time. He had no intention of in- 
teresting himself very largely in the railroad enterprises 
of the time, nor did he afterwards make any considera- 
ble investment in them. It was the beginning of the 
railroad s} r stem in this country, which was bound to 
have so great an influence over the vast question of 
transportation. The construction of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad had begun with a subscription of only 
five dollars a share. It was supposed that would be 
sufficient. The work, however, absorbed more time 
and money than was expected, and at the end of twelve 
months more had been expended than the subscriptions 



20 PETER COOPER. 

amounted to. Heavy grades and sharp turns had been 
found so numerous and difficult, it was believed they 
would prove impracticable for locomotives, and so large 
were the sums needed to complete the road, the share- 
holders were ready to abandon the enterprise, believing 
that further subscriptions would be only "throwing 
away good money after bad." Mr. Cooper differed en- 
tirely with his associates, and declared that he could 
himself build a locomotive that would demonstrate the 
practicability of using steam engines on that road, and 
he did so. It was on a small scale, but on trial it proved 
that he was right. In a very short time the locomotive 
was turned out of his factory, and pronounced a success. 
It was the first time, at least in this country, that a pas- 
senger car had been propelled by steam. That ma- 
chine is still in existence, and many years later, when 
the hospitality of the city of Baltimore was proffered to 
him and accepted, it was one of the most enthusiastic 
and novel celebrations that had ever been witnessed ; the 
first American locomotive being the chief object of 
curiosity and delight to the citizens of Baltimore, and 
the numerous distinguished guests who had been invited 
from other cities. 



IRON AND STEEL WORKING. 

i. 

The time had now come when Mr. Cooper was to ex- 
tend the field of his enterprises, and surpass all his con- 
temporaries in the manufacture of iron and steel. He 
built extensive works in Thirty-third Street near Third 
Avenue, under his own supervision, and the finest 
works then in the country were completed and put into 
successful operation. In 1845 he associated with him 



IRON AND STEEL WORKING. 21 

in the business, his son Edward and his son-in-law 
Hewitt, the former having under the tuition of the latter, 
attained as complete a scientific education as could then 
be acquired. This association became from that day a 
model for economy and completeness of work, being 
enlarged from time to time, until it reached its well- 
known magnitude and perfection. Their works were 
removed to Trenton, where a rolling-mill and wire fac- 
tory was built. Soon afterwards, three large blast fur- 
naces were erected in Phillipsburg, Penn., and the 
Ringwood property, including 11,000 acres of land, was 
purchased. To illustrate the important agency which 
Mr. Cooper had in the development of iron and steel 
manufacture in the United States, it is necessary to give 
some account of its advancement. 

ii. 

Mr. Cooper's attention was early directed to the great 
resources of the United States for the manufacture of 
iron. As early as 1830, he had erected iron works at 
Canton, a suburb of Baltimore, and it was in the same 
year that he built, after his own designs, that first loco- 
motive constructed on this continent. It was in New 
York city that he first successfully applied anthracite 
coal to the puddling of iron. In his works at Trenton, 
he was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof 
buildings, and they were used in his Institute. The 
great firm he founded of Cooper, Hewitt & Co. finally 
comprised large mines of ore and coal, quarries, forges, 
blast furnaces, wire and rolling-mills, chain, horse-shoe 
and open-hearth steel works. 

in. 
The consumption of iron measures material civiliza- 
tion. To say, therefore, that the growth of the iron 



22 PETER COOPER. 

business in the United States is a marvel is merely to say 
that during the last century the wilderness has been re- 
deemed from barbarism, and that the lights of civili- 
zation have been spread over a continent with a rapidity 
never before known in the histoiy of man. In the year 
1867, in the report of Mr. Hewitt, the United States 
Commissioner to the Paris Exposition, he said: "The 
position of the coal measures of the United States sug- 
gests the idea of a gigantic bowl filled with treasure, the 
outer rim of which skirts along the Atlantic to the Gulf 
of Mexico, and thence returning by the plains which lie 
at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, passes by 
the great lakes to the place of beginning on the borders 
of Pennsylvania and New York. The rim of this basin 
is filled with exhaustless stores of iron ore of every 
variety, and of the best quality. In seeking the natu- 
ral channels of water communication, whether on the 
north, east, south, or west, the coal must cut this metal- 
liferous rim, and in its turn the iron ores maybe carried 
back of the coal, to be used in conjunction with the car- 
boniferous ores, which are quite as abundant in the 
United States as they are in England, but hitherto have 
been left unquarried in consequence of the cheaper 
rate of procuring the richer ores from the rim of the 
basin. Along the Atlantic slope, in the highland range 
from the borders of the Hudson River to the State 
of Georgia, a distance of one thousand miles, is found 
the great magnetic range traversng seven entire States 
in its length and course. Parallel with this, in the 
great limestone field which lies along the margin 
of the coal field, are the brown hematite, in such 
quantities in some points, especially in Virginia, Ten- 
nessee, and Alabama, as fairly to stagger the imagi- 
nation; and finally, in the coal basin is a stratum of red 



IRON AND STEEL WORKING. 23 

fossiliferous ore, beginning in a comparatively thin seam 
in the State of New York, and terminating in the State 
of Alabama, in*a bed of fifteen feet in thickness, over 
which the horseman may ride a distance of more than 
one hundred miles. Finally, in this bed, but still above 
the water level, are to be found the coal seams exposed 
upon mountain sides whose flanks are covered with 
magnificent timber available either for railway purposes, 
or the manufacture of charcoal iron. Passing westward 
in Arkansas and Missouri, that wonderful range of red 
oxide of iron is reached, which, in mountains rising 
one hundred feet above the surface, or in beds beneath 
the soil, culminates at Lake Superior m deposits of ore 
which excite the wonder of the beholders; and return- 
ing thence to the Atlantic slope in the Adirondacks of 
New York, lies a vast undeveloped region, watered by 
rivers whose beds are of iron, and traversed by moun- 
tains whose foundations are laid upon the same material. 
Also in and among the coal beds themselves, are found 
scattered deposits of hematite and fossiliferous ores, 
which by their proximity to the coal, have inaugurated 
the iron industry of our day. Upon these vast treasures 
the world may draw its supply for centuries to come, 
and with this the inquirer may rest contented without 
further question, for all the coal from the rest of the 
world might be deposited within this entire rim, and its 
square miles would not occupy one quarter of the actual 
area of the United States. The region thus liberally en- 
dowed, has been peopled by a hardy, energetic, and un- 
conquerable race. The very difficulties in the way of 
the iron industry have become incentives to exertion, and 
the causes of an unparalleled development. 

" At the beginning of the present century, the annual 
product of iron in the United States did not exceed 50,000 



24 PETER COOPER, 

tons. In 1820 it was reduced to about 20,000 tons, but 
with the introduction of mineral fuel, it reached in 1830, 
165,000 tons; in 1840, 315,000; in 1855, 784,000; in 1860, 
920,000; in 1870, 1,865,000; and in 1875 the capacity of 
production exceeded 3,000,000 tons. The pro-rata in- 
crease since that time, has greatly exceeded any former 
period. While the average consumption of the world 
is about thirty pounds per capita of the population, the 
consumption in the United States has exceeded one 
hundred and fifty pounds. The future of the iron busi- 
ness in this country is not, therefore, a matter of con- 
jecture. The necessities of the case will cause a con- 
tinued development, until our magnificent resources of 
raw material are fully utilized. " 



ELECTRICITY AND OCEAN CABLES. 



Had Peter Cooper achieved nothing else in life, his 
fame would be perpetuated in connection with the sci- 
ence of electricity, especially by the laying of ocean 
cables. Electricians of the world will ever hold his 
name in veneration, for it is at least doubtful when the 
victory over formidable obstacles would have been won 
but for his decisive participation; it certainly would 
have been delayed for a long time. We cite the authori- 
ty of the Electrical Review, which, in paying "its tribute 
to Mr. Cooper, says: " It is not for us to dwell upon the 
spirit of philanthropy and catholicity of the man, to 
whom it gives the first honors among the Fathers of the 
Atlantic Cable. That great work was planned and ac- 
complished by Peter Cooper. To him, more than to any 



ELECTRICITY AND OCEAN CABLES, 25 

of his associates, is due the successful laying of the At- 
lantic Cable. Only electricians can fully comprehend 
the vexations, the obstacles, the mortifications that fall 
to the lot of those who would inaugurate so stupendous 
a project as that of connecting two continents, 3000 miles 
apart, by a simple strand. Confiding in the strength of 
his genius, and disregarding the claims of presuming ig- 
norance, and opposing sound engineering views to the 
foolish projects so insolently thrust upon him by medi- 
ocrity, he conducted his long continued and arduous 
labors with rare success, intelligence and fortitude. No 
mishap disturbed, no misrepresentation deceived him: 
no remonstrance shook his determination. Fortune 
frowned without subduing his constancy. Mortifica- 
tion followed mortification, but the spirit of the man 
was unbroken. At last he succeeded — thoroughly, phe- 
nomenally. Two worlds, which before his efforts had 
been two weeks apart, were brought so close together 
that a few moments sufficed to put them in commu- 
nication, the one with the other. Through this accom- 
plishment of Peter Cooper, formerly retarded, humanity 
has been greatly benefited, and vast sums of money have 
been saved by the early information guaranteed by elec- 
tricity. 

" The story of the completion and development of the 
scheme for laying an Atlantic cable, is especially inter- 
esting to electricians. Associated with" Cyrus Field, 
Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Eoberts, Wilson G. Hunt, 
Peter Cooper built a line of telegraph across New- 
foundland, as a preliminary to connecting the United 
States with the British Isles. Difficulty after difficulty 
was surmounted, and ten years elapsed, during which 
time large sums were expended, before a penny found 
its way back into the pockets of the promoters of the 



26 PETER COOPER. 

scheme. The first cable laid was almost immediately 
lost in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and with it $300,000, 
through the obstinacy and ignorance of the master of 
the ship employed to tow the cable boat. Two years 
later, another cable had been 'manufactured, and this 
was laid with but little difficulty, across the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence. 

" And now for the great ocean cable. After getting 
a few trifling subscriptions in the United States, Mr. 
Cooper succeeded in having Mr. Field sent to Europe 
to raise the required sum. His mission was successful, 
and a contract was made for the manufacture of the 
great cable. This was placed upon two ships which 
were to meet in mid-ocean. They did meet; the two 
ends of the cable were joined and laid down success- 
fully. At the Newfoundland end four hundred mes- 
sages were received from Europe, when the current be- 
came weaker and weaker, and finally ceased to make 
any mechanical movement. On this side, people were 
sceptical; few believed that any message had been sent 
at all ; they looked upon the whole thing as a gigantic 
humbug." 

n. 

"It so happened," said Mr. Cooper, in recently re- 
lating his experience at the time, "that the few messages 
that we received over the cable, were important to the 
British Government, for it had arranged to transport a 
large number of soldiers from Canada to China to take 
part in the war against the Chinese, and just before the 
transports were to sail, a telegram came across our 
cable, to the effect that the war had ceased, and peace 
had been declared. This inspired the English people 
with confidence in our project. But, as T said, the 



ELECTRICITY AND OCEAN CABLES. 27 

whole thing was here believed to be a humbug. At a 
meeting in the Chamber of Commerce, a member arose 
and openly declared that, in his belief, no messages had 
been sent at all. Mr. Cunard, however, arose and said 
that ; the gentleman did not know what he was talking 
about, and had no right to say what he had; that he 
(Mr. Cunard) had sent messages himself and got answers 
thereto.' Mr. Cunard was a positive witness; he had 
been on the spot, and the objector must have felt ' slim ' 
at the result of his attempt to cast ridicule on men 
whose efforts, if unsuccessful, were at least worthy of 
praise. 

* 'We succeeded in getting another cable, but when 
we had got it about half-way over, we lost that as well. 
Then the project seemed hopeless. We thought for a 
long time, that our money was all lost. The matter 
rested for two years before anything was done. Finally 
we sent Mr. Field to England again to raise money. At 
first they laughed at him. They said that they thought 
that the thing was dead enough, and buried dead 
enough in the ocean, to satisfy every one. But Field 
finally got hold of an old Quaker friend, whom he so 
electrified, that he put up four hundred thousand dollars, 
and fourteen days later he had succeeded in getting the 
whole amount necessary — four millions of dollars. 

"The cable was made and put down, and it worked 
successfully. Then we went out to see if we could not 
pick up the other one. The balance of the lost cable 
was aboard the ship. The cable was found, picked up, 
and joined to the rest; and this wonder of the worlol 
was accomplished. The cable was taken out of the 
ocean where it was two and a half miles deep. 

"In taking up the first cable," Mr. Cooper continued, 
"the cause of the failure was discovered. In passing 



28 PETER COOPER. 

it into the vat manufactured for it where it was in- 
tended to lie under water, the workmen neglected to 
keep it immersed, and on one occasion when the sun 
shone very hot down into the vat, its rays melted the 
gutta-percha, so that the copper wire inside sunk down 
against the outer covering." 

After the two ocean cables had been laid successfully, 
it was found necessary to have a second cable laid 
across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The delays had been 
so frequent, that now only Mr. Cooper, Mr. Field and 
Mr. Roberts, took any interest in the matter. Bonds 
were offered at fifty cents on the dollar, and these three 
men were compelled to take them up themselves. The 
Bank of Newfoundland, through which the business 
of the company was transacted, refused to trust it, and 
drew upon Mr. Cooper personally, and he was com- 
pelled to pay the drafts out of his own pocket. When 
the cable proved a success, however, the stock rose to 
$90 a share, at which figure it was sold out to an Eng- 
lish company. This not only proved the means of sav- 
ing Mr. Cooper from great loss, but added largely to his 
fortune. 

in. 

The careful reader of history is often arrested by 
events which mark the turning points in the destinies of 
men and nations. This is as true in the record of great 
inventions and discoveries, as in the destinies of nations. 
In the crisis of the Atlantic Cable, if Peter Cooper had 
hesitated for an hour, God only knows when the next 
cable would have been laid. So, too, we may say, had 
the courage of Columbus given way at the last moment, 
who could tell the fate of this continent? The devout 
reverently call these special providences, and a philoso- 



ELECTRICITY AND OCEAN CABLES. 29 

pher, like Sir Isaac Newton, asks the sceptical, "If they 
be not special providences, what are they?" Unbeliev- 
ing souls never accomplish anything. Without the in- 
spiration of heroism, and faith in the Supreme Power 
that controls the universe, nothing great was ever done 
by the human race. If there ever was a genuine athe- 
ist, he was a very small man. The earnest believer in 
the God of Christianity, finds a deep significance in the 
fact that, in the darkest hours of our Revolutionary 
struggle, the half-suppressed murmur of prayer was 
sometimes heard from the tent of the commander-in- 
chief. During that great drama of life and death, when 
every earnest heart in the nation was engaged in the 
same business, there were times when the soul of man 
could find help nowhere but in going to the Omnipotent 
and loving Father. This is what true men understand 
by being "made in the image of God." This is what 
every true Christian understands by prayer. Woe be to 
the man who is ignorant of all this ! So far is he un- 
worthy of being trusted with the affairs of a great peo- 
ple, the poor wretch's soul is not safe in his own keep- 
ing. The torch-bearers of human hope, the salvators of 
humanity, the great men who in all the ages have led 
the human race on to light and victory, have been rever- 
ent men. It was by the greatest heroes of Greece that 
Jupiter's Heaven was oftenest besieged by supplication. 
The Hebrew Law-giver — the greatest man of antiquity 
— talked familiarly with God. Socrates — the intellectual 
educator of the ages — believed in heavenly inspiration, 
and the divine guidance of his guardian angel. The 
old Idumean Prince, in the sublime allegory of Job, 
was but a type of what every great soul must pass 
through before it can be crowned with victory and re- 
demption. He was the most reverent and illuminated 



30 PETER COOPER. 

interpreter of the Almighty of whom history has left any 
record. Worship of God, and prayer, and sacrifice, was 
the inspiration of the invincible Roman legions. Depen- 
dence upon the Supreme Power, speaks from every 
altar ever erected by human hands. Constantine was 
invincible only after he saw the cross flaming in the sky. 
It was for the recovery of the tomb of the Saviour, and 
in the name of the Christian's God, that the armies of 
Saladin went down before the chivalry of Europe. 
Prayer was as much the order of the day as drill, in the 
army of Cromwell. Everywhere we find that the men 
who pray best, are the hardest fighters. The battle cry 
of the "sword of the Lord and of Gideon" sent terror 
through the Assyrian host. It has been too common to 
sneer at the Puritans, but says Macaulay, "No man ever 
did it who had occasion to meet them in the halls of 
debate, or cross swords with them on the field of battle." 
If there ever was a man of this type; if there ever was 
a man who carried a lion-hearted courage, and believing 
soul in his bosom ; if there ever was a man who never 
quailed, nor ever could quail, in the presence of earthly 
or infernal powers, that man was Peter Cooper. 



THE COOPER INSTITUTE. 

i. 

The founding of the "Cooper Union of Art and 
Science," was the great achievement of Cooper's life. It 
was entirely his own creation. No other person has 
ever claimed the credit of it, or if suchcIaL^ were made, 
it would never be allowed. The conception of it was 
original in the mind of the founder. The design of the 
edifice in all its parts and proportions, and the very 



31 




THE COOPER INSTITUTE. 31 

curriculum of its studies, the primal and ultimate objects 
to be accomplished, and its administration up to the 
time of his death, were all the work of its founder. It 
was his life work. In comparison with it, he regarded 
all his other labors as insignificant ; and by it he will be 
forever known. To it he gave the labors, the savings, 
the solicitudes and the enthusiasm of his great soul, for 
a longer period than the vast majority of the human 
race live. During this time, hardly an hour of conscious 
life passed by, or a night of dreams, in which his great 
object did not claim the highest place. No other thing 
inflamed or sustained his lofty ambition. Among his 
parting words, as he was calmly contemplating the end- 
less future, through whose gates " on golden hinges 
turning " to admit him, amidst tender words to his chil- 
dren who stood round his bedside, were whispered ut- 
terances, almost with his last breath, about the Cooper 
Union. Such a solace in that parting hour, was the most 
fitting for his sublime soul as it plumed itself for its 
celestial flight. 

" The chamber where the good man meets his fate 
Is privileged above the common walk; 
Quite on the verge of heaven." 

To him above all other men known to our times, may 
most properly be applied the fine words of his life-long 
friend, William Cullen Bryant: 

" So live that when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan that moves, 
To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.** 



PETER COOPER. 



THE BUILDER'S PURPOSE. 



At no time had Mr. Cooper cherished an ambition for 
political distinction or public honor, and it was entirely 
against his wishes to hold any public office. But he was 
importuned by his fellow-citizens to accept a nomina- 
tion for the Board of Assistant Aldermen for the Eighth 
Ward, stretching from Eighth Street to the Harlem 
River. A delegation of the most substantial citizens in 
that district, tendered him the nomination, and the de- 
sire was very earnest to have him accept it. He firmly 
refused, but told them that he would contribute $5000 
to the election of any good man they should fix upon. 
But this did not defeat their purpose. He was elected 
with very little opposition, and in taking his seat, which 
he did reluctantly, he said that ' ' perhaps it might give 
him an opportunity to render some little service to his 
fellow-citizens," and it did. He immediately devoted 
himself to the work before him, and secured several 
reforms in the city government. 

ii. 

He advocated, among other measures, the proposition 
to make the fire and police departments paid bodies; 
that the insurance companies and the cit} r , should con- 
tribute a percentage of all that the damage by fire and 
loss by thieves was reduced below the average, which 
should be distributed among the members of the depart- 
ments annually, to encourage them in their duty. In 
consequence of a petition to the Legislature, started by 
Mr. Cooper, the police was reorganized. He proposed 
a plau for extinguishing fires, which was to have elevated 






THE BUILDERS PURPOSE, 33 

water-tanks with force-pumps, hose-carriages to be kept 
on every block, something after the present Holly sys- 
tem. We owe to him the cupola of the City Hall, which 
was built in place of the former box-like structure. He 
was a committee of one to superintend the erection of 
the new town clock. He interested himself in the im- 
provement of the sanitary condition of the city, and, 
far ahead of his times, he directed public attention to 
that great reform. 



m. 

But he had from 1839 been a most active member of 
the Public School Society, till it was superseded by the 
Board of Education, of which he was elected president, 
which position he found perfectly congenial to his tastes 
and feelings. Here he first entered upon what he 
called ' ' the hobby of his life ;" saying to some of the 
principal citizens that " he hoped he should live to see 
the day that better provision would be made for free in- 
struction, especially for those boys and girls who were 
unprovided with the means of education ;" recalling his 
own experience, as a perpetual inspiration. He had had 
to do nearly all the work in the Public School Society. 
Others were too much occupied with their own affairs, 
or less enthusiastic than himself. He held the laboring 
oar with a strong arm, and it was a good apprenticeship 
to prepare himself for that kind of work for which na- 
ture and fortune seemed to have designed him. While 
he was serving as assistant alderman in 1828, he had 
fully determined to make arrangements for the construc- 
tion of the great institution which bears his name, and 
he lost no opportunity to gather information from the 
best sources relative to such a work. 



34 PETER COOPER. 

IV 

The only institution he could learn of in the world 
that carried out in any considerable degree the objects 
he wished to attain, was the Polytechnic School of 
Paris. It had received the special attention of a well- 
informed American gentleman just returned from 
France, who described to Mr. Cooper all he had seen 
and learned of that institution. He represented that 
the pupils who were admitted had, many of them, been 
obliged to go through great hardships to get the benefit 
which the lectures and instruction afforded. Mr. Cooper 
conversed with professors and teachers of higher schools, 
and having at last settled upon the kind of a school that 
was most needed for those having no other source of 
advancement, and having laid up. with a view to such 
an ultimate result, money enough to start on, he pro- 
ceeded to buy the ground for the building, keeping his 
purpose pretty much to himself. He secured the site 
just about where the Bowery branches into Third and 
Fourth Avenues, and began to prepare the ground for 
the building. He was his own architect. Being a mas- 
ter mechanic in several trades, and having erected large 
edifices, he justly felt himself competent to do that work, 
commanding such assistance all through, as he needed, 
and subjecting his plans to the severest criticism on all 
occasions. He was determined to put up a building as 
nearly fire-proof as could be made, since it was to be of 
stone, brick, and iron. The corner-stone of the Union 
was laid. Within that stone was placed a scroll which 
bore this inscription: "The great object that I desire 
to accomplish by the erection of this institution, is to 
open the avenues of scientific knowledge to the youth 
of our city and countiy, and so unfold the volume of 
Nature, that the young may see the beauties of creation, 



THE BUILDERS PURPOSE. 35 

enjoy its blessings, and learn to love the Author from 
whom cometh every good and perfect gift." 

v. 

The school was "to be forever devoted to the Union 
of Science and Art in its application to the useful pur- 
poses of life." The work went steadily on under his 
direct supervision for five years; and from the founda- 
tion, deeply and securely laid, rose a brown-stone and 
iron structure of massive Roman architecture, an irregu- 
lar quadrangle in shape, its dimensions on its four sides 
being 90, 146, 165, and 195 feet, rising four lofty stories 
above the great basement hall, which has ever since 
been the largest and most popular lecture-room in the 
city. From that hall more light and knowledge have 
been diffused, than from any other single room in the 
United States, or perhaps in the whole world. The 
original plan embraced a sixth story, which was to be 
added in subsequent years, as the demand for increased 
facilities for education multiplied. When it was com- 
pleted, the structure had cost, together with the expense 
of the ground, nearly seven hundred thousand dollars. 
This was in the cheap days of New York, and every 
dollar of that money had been earned by Mr. Cooper. 
Further expenditures, which have been steadily increas- 
ing, with his own endowments, made the entire outlay 
at the time of his death considerably more than one 
million dollars. Large areas were devoted to rent for 
business purposes, so that from all sources the income 
for several years has exceeded $50,000 per annum. It 
therefore rests upon a permanent foundation: all the 
work of one man, without the contribution of a dollar 
from any other source. Thus far for the history of the 
construction of the edifice and its endowments. 



36 PETER COOPER. 



THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 



The significance of this colossal pile, like that of any 
other great building, depends chiefly upon the object 
to which it is devoted. The spires or towers of a great 
church or cathedral, proclaim the purpose for w T hich 
they were built. They all speak the same language of 
the adoration of man for the Great Creator, and the 
preservation of Religion on the earth. But in the case 
of the Cooper Institute, it is necessary to look at its in- 
ternal arrangement, to comprehend the mind of the 
founder, which in scientific and artistic adaptation far 
exceeds the grandeur of the architecture. A few weeks 
before his death, the writer said, in speaking of the 
founder of the institution: The old saying that it is 
dangerous to praise the living, will not apply to Peter 
Cooper, for his record has been so long and so indeli- 
bly cut into history, that it has passed beyond even his 
own power to efface it. His good deeds have been 
too many to be impaired by disparagement, or to fade 
from the memory of men. The conviction of illumi- 
nated savans, and experienced teachers at home and 
abroad, agree that he founded the best institution for 
the promotion of Science and Art which exists to-day on 
the earth. It exceeds all others in the breadth of its 
plan, and the universality of its benevolence. Every 
brick and stone, from corner to its highest copings, 
every one of its departments and appliances, with the 
adjustment of its parts, all speak the same language. 
Like a Greek temple erected to the adoration of the 
immortal gods, it proclaims, to every one who crosses 
its vestibule, for what purpose it was erected. No an- 



THE INTELLECTUAL STEUCTUBE. 37 

cient architect was born poorer than Peter Cooper, and 
no one of them achieved fame without patronage. 
Cooper had no help from anybody but God: and well 
it was so, for no other being could help him. He had 
a grand work to do, and he lived to perfect it. 

And now in his ninety-second year, his eye is still 
clear, and his natural force seems unabated; reaping 
the most abundant reward that can ever fall to mortal, 
in the love and respect of civilized nations, and the 
heartfelt gratitude of the myriads whom he has lifted 
from ignorance and helplessness, to learning and inde- 
pendence. And his beneficence will stretch away into 
the far future. Neither prayer nor praise are now 
needed, nor will they ever be, for him ! 

ii. 

In the Report of 1879 of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education, we find the following statement: 

" The Cooper Union Free Night Schools of Science. — 
These afford a remarkable example of the intelligent 
application of a great charity. Their purpose is the 
technical instruction of the laboring classes, which is 
accomplished through the agency of a free library and 
reading-room, free lectures, and two classes of schools, 
viz., the Evening Schools of Science and Art, and the 
Art School for Women. The course of study in the 
former, embraces the ordinary English branches, with 
advanced courses in mathematics, mechanics, physics, 
literature, and rhetoric. The art department of the 
evening schools, embraces instruction in all branches 
of drawing, viz., free hand, architectural, mechanical, 
and drawing from cast; also industrial drawing, and de- 
sign aud modelling in clay. Women are admitted to 
the scientific classes, bat not to the art classes, a special 



38 PETER COOPER. 

school of Art being maintained for them. The latter is 
divided into ^ve departments — drawing, painting, pho- 
tography, wood-engraving, and normal teaching. 

"In both of the Art schools the training is constantly 
directed to the preparation of the pupils for those em- 
ployments in which the arts of design and drawing are 
the principal or accessory occupations; 2820 pupils 
were registered the present year in the Evening Schools 
of Science and Art, of whom 2707 were engaaed dur- 
ing the day in various trades and occupations. Owing 
to the exigencies of their industrial life, but few of the 
pupils can remain long enough in the institution to 
complete the whole course and receive the diploma and 
medal of the Cooper Union. Certificates of proficiency 
are awarded to those who pass satisfactory examination 
on the work of a particular class; 634 such certificates 
were awarded in 1879. 

"The number of pupils admitted to the free morning 
classes of the Woman's Art School, was 255, and to the 
engraving class for women, 37. In the art school the 
earnings for the year were $9,525.75, and in the en- 
graving class, $1,820.59. All money earned in the 
schools belongs to the pupils, and a number are thus 
enabled to support themselves while studying. 

"The subsequent career of the graduates is followed 
with constant interest, and the facts thus brought to 
light, afford the most gratifying evidence of the practi- 
cal results of the instruction. A large proportion of 
the graduates command lucrative positions as teachers 
of art, photo-colorers, decorators, and designers. 

"The school of telegraphy for women admitted 35 
pupils the present year. The Western Union Tele- 
graph Company has so far interested itself in the school, 
as to nominate a teacher who trains the pupils in the 



TEE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 39 

thorough methods of that company. Although under 
no agreement to provide places for the scholars, the 
Company has employed a large proportion of the gradu- 
ates on its lines. 

"Instruction in all the schools and classes above de- 
scribed, together with all privileges of the institution, is 
absolutely free. In consequence of the great pressure 
for admission, and the earnest offer of many to pay for 
their instruction, the trustees have allowed an amateur 
class to be formed, which meets in the afternoon out of 
the regular class hours, and the members of which pay 
a small fee. Half of the money thus realized goes to 
the teacher, and the other half to the free schools. The 
fees for the present year amount to $2326." 

Higher praise could hardly be offered ; and } r et the 
Commissioner accords to the Cooper Institute the honor 
of placing it between the Stevens Institute of Technol- 
ogy, of Koboken, and the Franklin Institute, of Phila- 
delphia ! 

in. 

In the Twenty-third Annual Report of the Trustees 
of the Cooper Union— May 27, 1882— we find the fol- 
lowing statement: 

" Comparing the Art School of 1871-2 with its condi- 
tion in 1881, I find in summing up the numbers the 
total of 

Applicants for the school in 1871-72 was 173 

" " 1881-82 " 1,397 

The number of admissions in 1871-72 was 173 

" 1881-82 " 711 

The number of classes in 1871-72 was 3 

" 1881-82 was 14 



40 PETER COOPER. 

"The amount of all money that could be heard of 
all former pupils earning in 1871-72, was $4000. The 
amount of money earned by present pupils, and by 
graduates of 1880-81 only, is, so far as reported, $29,- 
003.57. The last figures do not represent the entire 
amount, as I know that many of last year's graduates 
are earning money who have given me no report at all. 

"The total number of pupils in the school who are 
earning, is 113, of whom 51 are in the photograph 
classes, and 27 in the engraving class. All the money 
earned belongs to the pupils themselves. 

"Last year's report, i.e., the annual report of 1880- 
81, shows that $19,480.25 was earned, making an in- 
crease in this year's report of $9452.32. This is very 
encouraging, as this season there has been a larger 
number than usual of new scholars in the Art School. 

" This growth of the school is gratifying; yet, at the 
same time, one cannot but reflect that 686 persons, or 
nearly as many as were able to be admitted, were dis. 
appointed in their efforts to gain admittance. Were 
the Art rooms as large again, the income of the Cooper 
Union double, and the general appliances of casts, 
books, etc., double, we could use them all." 

IV. 

And yet these statistics give but a faint idea of what 
the Cooper Union really is. It can be better learned 
from a more minute description by a careful writer in 
The New York Herald, who embraced a more complete 
conception of the plan Mr. Cooper carried out. He 
says: " A quarter of a century ago, lacking one year, 
Peter Cooper realized the dream of his life in the estab- 
lishment of the institution which bears his name. Be- 
lieving, as few, very few, rich men do, that his wealth 



THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 41 

was a sacred trust to be used for the benefit of his fel- 
low-creatures, Mr. Cooper gave not merely of his money, 
but his life thenceforth, and anxious thought to the 
building up and maintenance of the Cooper Union for 
the Advancement of Science and Art. The title, while 
it expresses a high purpose, falls far short of conveying 
any idea of the vast range of the good work of the 
Union. The advancement of science and art is well 
enough; but to teach, without one cent of charge, 
40,000 men and women to earn a good living at skilled 
trades; to cultivate, without money and without price, 
the hands and brains of scores of thousands so that they 
may advance themselves in the world, and to exalt, 
mentally, morally and physically, the poor and friend- 
less, are far nobler objects. What the schools of the 
Cooper Union do is to give boys and girls that practical 
education which will be inestimably valuable to them in 
their trades and professions, and enable them to earn 
bread and butter, and something besides, for their fam- 
ilies.' 1 

v. 
Schools in the Different Departments. — "The schools 
occupy the greater part of the building. The whole 
of the large structure above the readmg-room, which 
is on the second floor, is divided into class-rooms 
and devoted to educational purposes of a wide range. 
There are now thirty-five hundred pupils, and there 
would be many more if the building would accommo- 
date them. The demand is growing every j r ear, and in 
all the departments the applicants seeking admission far 
exceed the accommodations, In some classes the num- 
ber of those who were turned away at the beginning of 
the present year, was greater than the number admitted. 
The pupils are received on the simple rule of first come 



42 PETER COOPER. 

first served, the necessary qualifications on the part of 
the applicant being good character, a suitable age, and 
an expressed intention to turn the advantages of the in- 
stitution to industrial purposes and self-support. Great 
care is taken to select for admission those who are the 
least able to pay the usual charges of educational insti- 
tutions for special instruction. Young men and girls 
with poor parents, or who are dependent upon their 
own resources, are always given the first choice. Ama- 
teurs in art or science are not wanted and not admitted, 
with a single unimportant exception, to be hereafter 
explained. Such is the reputation for thoroughness in 
the instruction given in these schools, that many parents 
who can and will pay liberally are anxious to have their 
children received. The building could be filled with 
these amateurs twice over every season, but it would be 
directly contrary to the wise purposes of the founder to 
receive this class, and they are never knowingly taken. 
The private pay schools furnish ample provision for 
them. 

" ' It is a great pity we have not more room,' said Cu- 
rator Zachos; 'this great institution should be multi- 
plied fourfold. In some of the branches — notably the 
women's art school — applicants for admission some- 
times wait for two years before they can be received. 
We use every available inch of room/ " 

VI. 

The writer continues: ''The actual work of the Coo- 
per Union is one of the largest of any educational insti- 
tution in the world. The reading-room furnishes 
amusement and instruction to over two thousand people 
every day, and over three hundred papers and maga- 
zines and live hundred books are called for. It is open 



THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 43 

from eight in the morning until ten at night through the 
week, and on Sundays after twelve o'clock, and every 
respectable person is admitted without any formality or 
restriction. It is the largest reading-room in the coun- 
try, is well lighted and comfortable, and fully supplied 
with the periodical literature of many languages. 

" But the reading-room is the least important part ox 
the educational machinery of Cooper Union. The 
number of pupils who enterted the various classes last 
year was 3334. And besides these there are public lec- 
tures every Saturday night during the fall and winter in 
the great hall of the Union, where about two thousand 
people assemble once every week, to hear the most dis- 
tinguished men in the country discourse upon the ques- 
tions of the day in science, art, and literature." 

VII. 

For Boys and Men. — " There are both day and night 
schools. The former are for girls and young ladies, the 
latter for boys and young men. The male schools are 
in two sections — the department of science, and the de- 
partment of art. The first admits about one thousand 
scholars during the term, and has classes in algebra, 
geometry, trigonometry, analytical and descriptive ge- 
ometry, differential and integral calculus, elementary 
mechanics, natural philosophy, engineering, astronomy, 
elementary and analytical chemistry, geology, scientific 
mechanical drawing, oratory and debate. 

" The art school admits over 1200 pupils during the 
term, and teaches them drawing in perspective, mechani- 
cal and architectural drawing, drawing from the cast, 
form drawing, industrial drawing, free-hand drawing 
and modelling in clay. The students join whatever 
classes they please, choosing those, of course, which 



44 PETER COOPER. 

will best fit them for the calling which they expect to 
follow. Some of them cannot afford the time necessary 
for the complete course, and the personnel of the classes 
changes considerably before the school year is over. 
Nearly all the pupils work at their trades during the day 
— and attend the schools at night. The hours are from 
half-past seven to half-past nine, and every class-room 
is occupied every evening. The students must be over 
fifteen years of age and have a good rudimentary edu- 
cation in reading, writing and arithmetic. Tiie majority 
are lads of from eighteen to twenty, serving their time 
in workshop or office, but it is a common sight to see a 
middle-aged man standing by the side of a boy of seven- 
teen." 

vin. 

2 he Scientific Glasses. — "Most of those in the scien- 
tific classes are embryo machinists, designers, artistic 
woodworkers, stone cutters, jewellers, painters, and 
workers in metals. As nearly all of them are obliged 
to work at their trades during the day, the pupils find a 
nightly attendance at school, too confining, and that is 
one reason why the classes are not identically the same 
at the close of the term as at the beginning. The lads 
are generally bright, ambitious and industrious, and, be- 
ginning with the school year in October, they want to 
study everything. They join all the classes and come 
every night, but after a few months they find they have 
undertaken too much, and allow some of the studies to 
drop, devoting themselves to others and averaging about 
four nights a week at school. Stationery, materials re- 
quired in the chemical and modelling classes, etc., are 
furnished free, and text-books are sold at cost price. 
The classes in oratory and debate are the largest, and 



THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 45 

next come algebra, geometry, and elementary chemistry. 
It is considered by Professor Plympton, the director of 
the night schools and professor of philosophy, mechan- 
ism and astronomy, that a full course of mathematics is 
a necessary preliminary to any thorough scientific study. 
Very few have come to the schools prepared with ele- 
mentary mathematics for the study of practical engi- 
neering and mechanics. 'It is to be regretted,' says 
Professor Plympton, 'that very few students can re- 
main to pursue the whole course of scientific studies 
which entitles them to the medal and diploma, But 
nothing less than such a course can enable a man to 
achieve the highest sphere of usefulness in the ranks of 
modern industry. Certificates of proficiency are, how- 
ever, given to those who have attended the class on any 
particular subject and passed a satisfactory examina- 
tion.' The lectures on natural philosophy, chemistry, 
English literature, elocution and rhetoric are attended 
by many who do not belong to the classes." 



TJie Art Schools for Men. — "The male classes in the 
art schools are for the most part made up of apprentices 
in architects' offices, and of designers of tiles, wall papers, 
oilcloths, carriage painters and makers, mechanical 
sculptors, and of kindred trades where artistic work- 
manship is called for. There is no other school in New 
York where facilities of this sort are furnished free. 
The Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen gives free 
lectures to artisans on certain branches occasionally, 
but they do not pretend to the scope and thoroughness 
of the Cooper Union courses. The largest classes in 
the art department are in free-hand drawing, and in 
mechanical, architectural and industrial drawing. All 



46 PETER COOPER. 

the lessons are practical, and bearing on the employ- 
ments in which the arts of design and drawing are 
principal or accessory occupations. But if the pupil 
shows a talent for high art, and has the leisure and 
means to pursue it, he is recommended to other schools 
in this city established for the special instruction of 
professional artists. " 

XI. 

The Women's School. — "To provide honorable and 
useful employment for women, is one of the problems of 
civilization. The necessity for self-support is as imper. 
ative to many women as to men, and skilled employ- 
ments of some kinds are better adapted for women than 
for men. Nothing seems to supply this want so well as 
the industrial art schools of Cooper Union. 

"The art school for women is open every day from - 
nine to one. Mrs. Susan H. Carter is the principal. 
There are about eight hundred pupils, and eveiy room 
is crowded. The course of instruction includes all that 
is taught in the male art schools, and much more. 
Many of the graduates find places as teachers of draw- 
ing, painting, and so on, and others become designers 
for carpets, oilcloths, wall papers, tiles, etc. Mr. R. 
Swain Gilford is the instructor in painting to graduates 
from the drawing classes. 

" The school is divided into five departments — draw- 
ing, painting, photography, wood engraving, and nor- 
mal teaching. The drawing and painting school is 
conducted on a high plane of skill and taste, and has 
furnished many teachers in these departments. It is 
the purpose of the instruction in the art departments, to 
unite the two instrumentalities in the productions of art 
— both designing and careful execution. Invention is 



THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 47 

specially promoted by the lectures on art which the 
pupils receive, the instruction in perspective drawing, 
and especially the lectures and instruction given to the 
normal class for the preparation of teachers of drawing 
in private and public schools. It is the purpose of the 
trustees to extend the instruction in the schools of art 
more into the departments of invention and design, as 
answering a demand most truly American, where the 
inventive faculties are more active than in any part of 
the world." 

XII. 

The Pupils' Earnings. — " It is worthy of note that the 
purpose of giving such instruction in practical art and 
applied sciences as will put an independent employment 
in the hands of every student, is in many instances com- 
menced while the pupil is still under instruction in the 
institution. This is especially the case in the art school 
for women. The amount reported as earned for them- 
selves by pupils in the different departments of the wo- 
men's art school last year, was $28,932. 

" There is an afternoon pay class for amateurs. For 
the establishment of this class there was a great demand. 
It meets in the afternoon, and does not trench upon the 
hours of the free clases. Said Mrs. Carter in her last 
report: 

" ' Besides paying Mr. Gilford's salary from the pro- 
ceeds of the afternoon class, I have been able to hire mod- 
els constantly for the free-hand morning class, thus push- 
ing the drawing of the school as far as portraiture, which 
has added thirty women more to the school. This class 
has been taught by Mr. Wyatt Eaton, Mr. J. Alden 
Weir, and Mr. Douglas Yolk, and has raised the artistic 
reputation of the school till it is considered among the 



48 PETER COOPER. 

best in the country. The necessity for a china-painting 
class, soon began to be felt, and for a small fee, much 
less than would suffice in any studio "where the expense 
of rent, etc., must be defrayed, more than ninety wo- 
men have annually learned this profitable and interest- 
ing branch. 

"'The practical results for the pupils of the art 
school ten years ago were comparatively insignificant. 
Some ladies went into art employments, and in the en- 
graving class its pupils and all former graduates earned 
$2285. This year the pupils now working in that class 
report $4122, and our total report of money earned in 
the school by present pupils and last season's graduates, 
is $29,033.57, against a total of $4000 in 1872.' " 

xin. 

Engraving, lelegraphy, and Typewriting. — "There 
are some forty ladies in the engraving class. The ad- 
vanced pupils do clever work, and are employed on the 
Century magazine and other publications. 

" There are sixty or more young ladies who study 
telegraphing. The Western Union Telegraph Company 
has so far interested itself in this school, as to pay a 
teacher who trains the pupils in the thorough methods 
of that Company. It can thus draw competent operat- 
ors for its offices from this school, and it has provided 
a large proportion of the graduates of this school, in 
times past, with employment on its lines, although it is 
under no special obligation to provide a place for any. 

"The last thing Mr. Cooper did before he died was 
to purchase ten typewriters. Instruction in their use 
has been added to the women's schools, and it has been 
found a very useful adjunct. Work can easily be pro- 
cured for girls who understand this process of copying," 



THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE. 49 



xrv. 

General Work of the Institution. — " The last report of 
the curator says, concerning the general work of the in- 
stitution: 

" Within a few years, and largely due to the influence 
of the Cooper Union, technical schools and systematic 
instruction in skilled forms of labor, have been estab- 
lished in several large cities. The diffusion of wealth 
and intelligence among those called the operative classes, 
as distinguished from the professional, renders their de- 
mand upon the public wealth for educational facilities, 
more and more imperative; and nothing can satisfy this 
demand short of engrafting upon the common-school 
system the methods of the industrial and technical school. 
The Cooper Union and smaller institutions of a similar 
kind, are leading the way and inaugurating the methods, 
for a great system of instruction specially adapted to 
the wants of the industrial and skilled operative classes 
that form much the largest part of the population of 
those countries. 

" The pupils who leave the schools with some proof 
of proficiency demonstrate the help which such instruc- 
tion is to them, by the readiness with which they get 
employment. There is often a call, in advance, upon 
the principals of the scientific and art departments, for 
men or women thought competent to teach, or to con- 
duct the different employments which they are taught 
here. " 

xy. 

The Summing Up. — " In summing up this brief view 
of the Cooper Union, the thoughtful mind will reflect 
on the fact that, with a sum of money less than the an- 



50 PETER COOPER. 

nual expenditure of many a wealthy family in this city, 
the Cooper Union counts its yearly beneficiaries by the 
thousands. This institution bestows its charity in the 
best form — that of promoting self-dependence and intel- 
lectual training for the work of life." 



Income and Expenditures of the Trustees. — "The pres- 
ent trustees are ex-Mayor Edward Cooper, the founder's 
son; Mr. Abram S. Hewitt, Peter Cooper's son-in-law 
and business partner; Mr. Daniel F. Tiemann, Mr. John 
E. Parsons, and Mr. Wilson G. Hunt. It costs about 
$50,000 a year to run the institution, and it is practically 
self-supporting, the income being derived from the rents 
of the stores in the lower part of the building, the great 
hall in the basement, and the interest on the founder's 
endowment fund. But hundreds of applications are 
annually refused for lack of accommodations. The en- 
tire expenditures of the trustees, on the building and 
education from 1859 to 1882, inclusive, were only $1,- 
549,192. Reckoning the thousands of pupils that have 
passed through its classes, and the hundreds of thou- 
sands benefited by its other advantages of instruction, 
this comparatively small sum spent in twenty-three years 
will appear a very economical means to very large and 
useful ends." 



FINANCE AND STATESMANSHIP, 
i. 

No man had studied the American s} r stem of govern- 
ment more profoundly, nor gathered and treasured up 
In his heart the maxims of the Fathers of the Republic. 
He had begun this study at a much earlier period of life 



FINANCE AND STATESMANSHIP. 51 

than had any of the great statesmen and ministers of 
finance, with the exception probably of the younger Pitt, 
and he cultivated this knowledge with eagerness and as- 
siduity to the last. On reaching his majority and going 
to work at Hempstead, Cooper learned that the cele- 
brated William Cobbet had settled in the neighborhood, 
and his bold and radical writings had excited almost as 
much interest in this country as they had in Great Brit- 
ain. Young Cooper became slightly acquainted with 
the veteran writer, and somewhat familiar with his orig- 
inal and startling views. But he was probably more in- 
debted in later years, to his venerable friend, the distin- 
guished financier, Albert Gallatin, than to any other 
man of his time, for the complete mastery of the vital 
subject of national finance, which he profoundly inves- 
tigated. 

ii. 

The world has been so taken up with Mr. Cooper as a 
philanthropist and promoter of education, that his claims 
as a statesman were to a great extent overlooked. But 
the time at last came when some of the public men of 
America, nearly caught up with his profound and saga- 
cious views on the subject of finance. 

But he had only had to go through the same experi- 
ences as other men who are ahead of their times. They 
are treated either with neglect or contempt, and get no 
hearing until the very evils which they prophesied have 
forced the consideration of remedies that had long been 
proposed, and listen to arguments which they had 
neither the patience nor the inclination to weigh or un- 
derstand. 

Mr. Cooper was among the very earliest public writers 
on the dangers and wrongs to the people, in destroying 



52 PETER COOPER. 

their own currency, and transferring thern and all their 
interests to the merciless control of the national banks. 
In fact, if any man in the history of this countiy, or in 
that of any other, foresaw with a prophetic gaze the fu- 
ture results of that fatal system, it was Mr. Cooper. 
He not only demonstrated the injustice of allowing the 
national banks to hold the monopoly of the currency, 
and on no other security than the deposit of their gold 
bonds, on which they drew the dividends to put in their 
own pockets, instead of having them retained as a grow- 
ing basis for their circulation, which would have sooner 
secured specie payment, but the people were taxed to 
pay those very dividends; and thus, on all the money 
they borrowed from the banks, they were compelled to 
pay double interest, the aggregate of which has amount- 
ed to the frightful sum of hundreds of millions of dol- 
lars; yet the people did not see it, nor would the bank- 
ers or the politicians allow them to do it. 

He showed that in the contraction of the greenbacks, 
there was not money enough left in circulation to do 
the legitimate business of the nation. This, too, was 
dinned in vain into the adder ears of the debt-ridden 
people. 

in. 

He predicted such panics as we had in 1873, and the very 
panic which a few years later struck us, but nobody lis- 
tened to it! Never had arguments on any public ques- 
tion been pressed with greater clearness and soundness 
of reason and logic. But the country was so insensi- 
ble to it all, and so thoroughly "bulldozed," that even 
the next monstrosity — the casting of silver out of circu- 
lation, with the taint of infamy stamped upon it — 
was on the point of being enacted without rebuke, 



FINANCE AND STATESMANSHIP. 53 

had they not been waked from their stupidity by the 
dreadful panic of 1873; nor did they see it after wading 
through the troubles which disturbed and depressed the 
business of the country during the next seven years. 

At last, however, some impression was made; some 
of the most clear-headed men of the country yielded to 
the pressure, and the Greenback party was formed! 
And had any degree of wisdom prevailed in the coun- 
cils of its leaders, the odium of "rag baby" and the 
" lying silver" currency would have been escaped. 

All these results were as clearly foreseen by Mr. Cooper 
before, as after they took place; and he stands justified 
to-day by events, as being the most sagacious statesman, 
on that crucial test of finance, that our age has pro- 
duced. 

He wrote essays, letters and appeals almost without 
number, and gave to them a broad circulation — by the 
million — and in all instances at his own expense. 

The banks having control of the press, neither an- 
swered these arguments, nor allowed them to be an- 
swered, if in their power to prevent it. When spoken 
of, they were treated w r ith ridicule, and the bank mo- 
nopoly was left to go on undisturbed, consolidating its 
power, and binding legislation and opinion with bands 
of iron. 

rv. 

A careful survey of this great, heroic, and persistent 
crusade, as waged by the writings of Mr. Cooper, will 
hereafter prove his title to the highest type of states- 
manship, and to the gratitude of the. American people. 
Nothing but the veto of Mr. Hayes defeated the fund- 
ing bill, which gave to the banks, for the moment, the 
poor victory they achieved; but it was gained at a fatal 



54 PETER COOPER. 

expense to them — it GreenbacMzed vast masses of the na- 
tion. The indignation excited throughout the country 
by the bold exposure of the power of the banks to fix 
the value of all property by determining the amount of 
paper circulation, did for a while subside, but the next 
check to the general prosperity — which will arise from 
the same cause — will inflame that indignation with 
greater intensity. 

The time had indeed come when Senator Windom 
used the following language in a letter to the Anti-Mo- 
nopoly League, at their public meeting at the Cooper 
Institute, on the 21st day of February, 1881 : 

' ' I repeat to-day, in substance, words uttered seven 
years ago, that ' there are in this country four men who, 
in the matter of taxation, possess and frequently exer- 
cise powers which neither Congress nor any of our State 
Legislatures w r ould dare to exert — powers which, if ex- 
ercised in Great Britain, would shake the throne to its 
very foundation. These may at any time, and for any 
reason satisfactory to themselves, by a stroke of the pen, 
reduce the value of property in the United States by 
hundreds of millions. They may, at their own will and 
pleasure, disarrange and embarrass business, depress one 
city or locality and build another, enrich one individual 
and ruin his competitors, and, w T hen complaint is made, 
coolly reply, " What are you going to do?" ' " 

And yet a few days later, General Garfield did not 
hesitate to put this man into the Treasury, where it was 
hoped monopoly would find some of its fearful power 
restrained, whether in railroads, banks, or telegraphs. 
The Secretary boldly laid down the great principle of 
constitutional law — that all these monopolies, the mere 
creatures of legislation, must be shorn of their power 
to do evil any longer. For putting such a man at the 






FINANCE AND STATESMANSHIP. 55 

head of the financial system of the country, President 
Garfield performed an act which brought him millions 
of allies, who looked forward to the emancipation of 
the business of the country at an early period of his 
administration. But his untimely death extinguished 
that hope. Secretary Windom would never have ad- 
vised or favored an act of injustice towards any body 
of men acting as a legal corporation. But the appoint- 
ment of such a statesman to a station of such vast power 
and responsibility, marks the hold which Mr. Cooper's 
sixteen years of tireless work had gained upon the minds 
and hearts of the people ; and to him, more than to any 
other man, will posterity award the honor. 



The credit of even producing his own writings, now 
that their value and ability become apparent, was de- 
nied to him by the monopolists. Good as he was, be- 
loved as he was, humane and generous as he had proved 
himself in all departments of life, they either dismissed 
his productions with a supercilious sneer, or denied him 
the credit of their authorship. " He must have had 
help." Had he ever asked for anybody's help, when, 
as a mechanic, he built with his own hands the first lo- 
comotive ever constructed in America? Had anybody 
helped him to found the greatest range of iron manu- 
facture in the country? Was he not almost the only 
man carrying on various kinds of businesses success- 
fully, through a period of seventy years, unscathed by 
a single one of the seven panics that had shaken our 
business world, and sent thousands of staunch men to 
wreck? Had anybody helped him in the wide scope of 
his inventions and improvements for the manufacture 
of iron and steel adapted to the construction of build- 



56 PETER COOPER. 

ings, railroads and machinery? Who claims the credit 
of paying out of his own pocket three-quarters of a mil- 
lion of dollars to save the first Atlantic Cable, when the 
banks would loan the company no more money? Who 
claims the credit of devising and building the most val- 
uable institute of "art and science," and the first one 
of any specific and practical importance, ever erected on 
this continent? Did the banks help him? He never 
trusted them with a dollar, or asked them to loan him 
one! Who taught him those grand principles of finance, 
to which the other statesmen of the country are now 
so fast coming? 

To those who have studied the subject w T ith care, and 
become familiar with Mr. Cooper's writings on finance, 
and the boldness and originality of his genius as dis- 
played in a complete comprehension of the mechanical 
forces with the various devices to gain their control — 
to those who are judges of simplicity and force of style 
and argument — there will be discovered in Peter Cooper, 
merits and abilities that have seldom, if ever, been met 
in any of the great men that have gone before him. 
One of the grandest attributes of such original superi- 
ority is found in the expansive natural life he has led, 
when, at the age of ninety-two, his eye seemed to be 
yet " undimmed, and his natural force unabated." 

These were some of the attributes and rare excellen- 
cies of Mr. Cooper's extraordinary character. 

YI. 

But his great work as a public economist and finan- 
cial reformer, was not to be limited to millions of fugi- 
tive sheets which he had caused to be circulated, and 
he was urged from all quarters, by the statesmen of Eu- 
rope and America, to embody the substance of his writ- 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 57 

ings in an enduring form while yet living. He yield- 
ed to the entreaty, and to this important labor he gave 
the last year of his life. It was his last intellectual 
effort and his best. He superintended its progress 
through the press with perfect regularity from day to 
day, and sent a large edition of it to the statesmen, the 
thinkers, and the principal journals of the civilized 
world. He then felt that his work was finished, and in 
three days he rested from his labors, and his works do 
follow him. 



ANALYSIS OF COOPER'S SYSTEM OF PUBLIC 
ECONOMY. 

i. 

This can best be done by such a brief review as our 
space admits, of his last publication, a well -printed royal 
octavo volume of 400 pages, entitled, 

"Ideas for a Science of Good Government, in Addresses, 
Letters and Articles on a Strictly National Currency, 
Tariff and Civil Service. By Hon. Peter Cooper, LL.D. 
New York : Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company, 
201-213 East Twelfth Street. 1883." He dedicates his 
book to " his children, grandchildren, and to the pupils 
of Cooper Institute," and introduces it to the public in 
the following brief preface : 

"As this compilation of ideas from my intercourse 
and correspondence with statesmen, divines, scholars, 
artists, inventors, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics 
and laborers, may contribute to a Science of Good Gov- 
ernment, based on a strictly national currency, tariff and. 
civil service, I consider it my duty to transmit them to 
posterity in book form. 



58 PETER COOPER. 

' : In our young country these three topics are of the 
greatest importance, and must be regarded as the foun- 
dation for all governmental superstructures. When 
this nation, numbering now fifty millions, can realize 
that before these three topics, all others must dwindle into 
insignificance, she will have attained the highest degree of 
political wisdom. I have had much personal experience 
in practical business and money affairs for the last 
sevent}' years: over thirty years ago I learned finance 
with our veteran financier, Albert Gallatin, who was 
Secretary of Treasury under Jefferson and Madison. 
He was President of The New York Board of Cur- 
renc}r, of which I was Vice-President. About that time 
I corresponded with Secretary Robert J. Walker, on the 
tariff. Since then I have been engaged in large finan- 
cial, manufacturing and educational operations, such as 
railroads, telegraphs, Atlantic cable, iron, steel, Cooper 
Institute, etc. 

"This varied experience with my daily reading ena- 
bled me to think, converse, speak and write on finance, 
tariff and civil service, which I tried to combine in this 
volume. Since the Rebellion broke out, I have sent 
petitions and letters to Congress, to the President and 
his Cabinet, and raised my voice in favor of a strictly 
national currency, a protective tariff, and a wise civil 
service, as will appear in the following pages. 

"Peter Cooper. 
"9 Lexington Avenue, New York, 
January 30, 1883." 



In the following petition to Congress, presented De- 
cember 14, 1862, when the Rebellion had fully inaugu- 
rated war, and the Government had to raise money to 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 59 

defend the Union, Mr. Cooper first developed his finan- 
cial views, which, if adopted in the beginning, would 
have saved uncounted millions to the people, and sooner 
suppressed that insane revolt. It was the first announce- 
ment of his principles of finance, to which he ever after 
adhered, and enforced with such signal ability: 

" Your petitioner desires most respectfully to call and 
fix the attention of Congress on the unmeasured conse- 
quences that now depend on a speedy adoption of a 
financial policy, calculated to maintain the force and 
power of the Government in its struggle for the nation's 
life, and at the same time to give the required stability 
and facilities, to enable the people to carry on to the 
best advantage, all the agricultural, mechanical, and 
commercial interests of the county. 

"Your petitioner believes that every other act of leg- 
islation dwindles into insignificance, when compared 
with an act, on which all business interests are more or 
less dependent, and connected with the honor and life 
of the nation itself. 

"In view of consequences and responsibilities so 
tremendous, your petitioner does most bumbly pray, 
that no time should be lost in perfecting laws, that will 
embody the highest wisdom and virtue of an intelligent 
people, for the people's benefit. 

"In the opinion of your petitioner the Constitution 
makes it the solemn duty of Congress to coin money 
and regulate the value thereof, of all that shall be known ■ 
and used as money throughout the United States. The 
faithful performance of this duty by the Government 
will more effectually secure the rewards of labor to the 
hand that earns it, and more effectually aid all the use- 
ful industries of the country, than any and all other 
measures, that can be adopted.'' 



60 PETER COOPER. 



in. 

At a later period Mr. Cooper's views were more fully 
unfolded by another petition in which he said : 

" Your petitioner, in view of the paralyzed condition 
of all the varied industries of our country, causing, as 
it has, an almost universal embarrassment by the shrink- 
age in values of all forms of property, thereby render- 
ing it impossible to give the needed employment to 
suffering millions, who have nothing to sell but their 
labor — your petitioner desires humbly to represent, that 
in his opinion a single act of Congress, added to the 
lately passed financial law, will secure for the United 
States the best paper circulating medium that our coun- 
try or the world has ever seen. 

"To do this it is only necessary to set forth and de- 
clare, that the present legal tender money, now in circu- 
lation, shall never be increased or diminished, only as 
per capita with the increase of the inhabitants of the 
country, and that the Government shall receive the legal 
tenders in payment for all duties and debts, with an 
amount of currency equal in average value, to the aver- 
age premium that gold has borne during the month pre- 
ceding the maturing of all contracts. 

" To secure to our country a tool, as Bonamy Price 
calls money, of such inestimable value, and at the same 
time secure for our country a degree of stability in the 
operations of trade and commerce hitherto unknown — 
to do this it will only be necessary for the Government 
to receive legal tenders in payment for all duties and 
debts, etc. 

" This plan will make it the interest of every man to 
bring and maintain the legal tenders on a par with gold 
in the shortest possible time. If this can be done it will 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 61 

give permanence and stability to that which measures 
all the property of the country, etc. . . . 

" There is no way, by which Congress can so effec- 
tually establish justice and promote the welfare of a 
nation as by securing for it a just and uniform system 
of money, weights, and measures. " 

rv. 

One of the most striking commentaries ever printed on 
the financial blunders of successive administrations, was 
written by Mr. Cooper in January of this present year, 
1883, and first published in his volume from which these 
citations are made. Of its historic accuracy no doubt 
can be entertained, while it forcibly illustrates the sa- 
gacity and soundness of his financial opinions. 

He says: "I learned from my friend, Silas M. Stil- 
well, who was the confidential adviser of Secretary 
Chase, at the time of our nation's greatest peril, that he 
saw my petition in the hand of Secretary Chase, at the 
time when he was saying, that he had some fifty mil- 
lions of bills audited, and not a dollar in the Treasury. 
In such a dilemma with the fact before him, that the first 
four loans, called for, were promptly taken up, and more 
money was offered at five and six per cent than the call 
would allow them to take ! 

"Mr. Stilwell stated, that he had labored with Secre- 
tary Chase for two or three weeks, trying to show him, 
that Treasury Notes, based on the credit of the nation and 
made receivable for all forms of taxes, duties, and debts, 
would be gladly accepted by the people, and that with- 
out a promise to pay gold. 

"Mr. Chase was determined, that no paper should be 
issued, without promise to pay gold and silver on de- 
mand. Mr. Stilwell labored for many days to show how 



62 PETER COOPER. 



interest could be used as a floating power for Treasury 
Notes with the Legal Tender principle as a forcing power, 
which would float an amount of Treasury Notes, that 
would meet all the expenses of the war. 

" This plan would have been, in effect, like the plan, 
recommended by Franklin and Jefferson. Benjamin 
Franklin said, that ' no plan had ever been devised, 
equal in all its advantages for a currency, to Treasury 
Notes, made a general Legal Tender. ' 

"Having labored for many days to convince Secre- 
tary Chase without effect, Mr. St il well informed him, 
that he believed his services were at an end, and that he 
should leave that evening for his home in New York. 

"Mr. S til well told me, that he had only just got 
home, when he received a telegram, begging him to 
come immediately back, as he had learned, that the 
banks had all failed to pay specie, as they had promised. 

"Thomas Jefferson unites with Franklin, and de- 
clares, ' That Treasury Notes, bottomed on taxes, bear, 
ing or not bearing interest, is the only fund, on which 
the Government can rely for loans ; and it is an abundant 
one for every necessary purpose. ' 

11 The plan, recommended by Jefferson was, and is, in 
exact accordance with the imperative demand of a Con- 
stitution, expressly formed to establish justice. 

"Mr. Stilwell returned at the request of Secretary 
Chase, who then asked him to write out the propositions 
he had made. On the urgent request of Secretary Chase, 
Mr. Stilwell wrote out his plan for the issue of Treasury 
Notes on the principle Jefferson had declared to be 
the only one, on which the Government could rely for 
loans. 

"Mr. Jefferson, in view of the banks that then ex- 
isted, declared that ' bank paper must be suppressed, and 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 63 

the circulating medium must be restored to the nation, to 
whom it properly belongs.' 

"Secretary Chase was compelled by the overwhelm- 
ing powers of a terrible war, to finally consent to adopt 
the plan, written out by Mr. Stilwell; and he says: 'he 
was forced to cut up small pieces of paper to circulate as 
money, based on the credit of the people, whose property it 
was intended to represent.' 

" That paper," continues Mr. Cooper with irresistible 
force, "was real fiat money, with the stamp of the Gov- 
ernment on it, declaring its first issues as a full Legal 
Tender in payment of all debts, public and private; and 
at the option of its owner, convertible into a bond, bearing 
five and six per cent interest for the amount so converted. 
There has been no day since when that money was not 
worth as much as gold." 

v. 

Then follows the terrible indictment against the suici- 
dal policy which successive administrations have pur- 
sued, which transferred the control of the currency into 
the hands of the national banks, and enabled them to 
precipitate the crises and panics that have brought fear- 
ful ruin on the country, and against which the business 
world has been powerless to provide. Understanding 
the cause and the remedy, Mr. Cooper adds: 

" During the last twenty years, I have sent thousands 
of documents broad-cast over our country. In all I have 
written, I tried to make plain the fact, that the Govern- 
ment of our country has, by a train of unconstitutional, 
invalidating financial laws, wrongfully taken from the 
American people, since our late war, more than seven- 
teen hundred millions of dollars, that were actually paid 
by the Government for value received in the labor and 



64 PETER COOPER. 

property, that were used and consumed in the prosecu- 
tion of the terrible war, through which we have passed. 

"It fell to my lot in the early part of my business life, 
to learn an invaluable lesson from the disgraceful failure 
of the United States Bank. I saw that bank with its 
thirty -five millions of dollars capital, authorized to issue 
four dollars of paper for every dollar of their capital, 
and all in promise to pay silver and gold on demand. I 
knew, that such a bank, with its branches in every State, 
would be a power that our Government could never 
control. 

" S. M. Stilwell in his essay on banking, says: 'We, 
as a nation, have experimented with, and dealt in, all 
kinds of credits from individual to national, etc. . . . 
We had private bankers, State banks, and twice we have 
tried national banks; and all have proved unsafe and 
unsatisfactory. The plain command, found in the Con- 
stitution to regulate commerce between the States, has 
been neglected by Congress; and instead of binding the 
States together for commercial purposes, the money- 
power has been left to the separate States, to be exer- 
cised under a doubtful construction of the organic law/ " 

VI. 

Mr, Cooper had studied the Constitution early, and 
the legislation of Congress more carefully, and under- 
stood the views of the Fathers of the Republic better, 
than most of our modern statesmen. He invoked old 
laws — never abrogated — and .old examples long forgot- 
ten, which the Founders had, in their admirable fore- 
sight, interposed to possible dangers likely to assail us. 
He reminded his contemporaries, that Washington and 
John Adams were opposed to allowing bank officials to 
occupy seats in either branch of Congress. He says* 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. (55 

"On page 20 of the Journal of the United States 
Senate, first session of the Third Congress, convened 
at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1793, can 
be found the following resolution, offered on the 23d of 
December the same year, and passed by the United 
States Senate with but two dissenting votes, and signed 
by George Washington, President, and John Adams, 
Vice-President: 'Any person, holding any office 
ok any stock in any institution in the nature of 
a bank for issuing or discounting bills or notes 
payable to bearer or order, cannot be a member 
of the House whilst he holds such office or 

STOCK. ' 

"Yet, a late Congress was composed of one hundred 
and twenty bankers, ninety-nine lawyers, fourteen mer- 
chants, thirteen manufacturers, seven doctors, four me- 
chanics, and not a single farmer or day laborer. This 
agrees with a statement made by Moses W. Field, M. C. 

"I think this law was invoked to prevent A. T. 
Stewart, the largest importer of foreign goods, from be- 
coming Secretary of the Treasury. 

"Why should it not be enforced now to oust specu- 
lators from our Congress, where they are making laws 
in their own favor, and against the interest of the 
people? 

"The wise men, who achieved the Independence, 
drafted the Constitution, and established our Govern- 
ment, well knew that it was unsafe to trust the govern- 
mental law-making to bankers, usurers, or any one 
interested in such business. They knew it was morally 
impossible for persons, interested in money-lending, 
not to attempt to legislate in their own favor, and 
against the good of the people. 

" I ever did, and ever shall, advocate a purely national 



66 PETER COOPER. 

currency, as long as I live, as the only remedy against 
periodic stagnation, caused by special legislation, sug- 
gested and voted by banking representatives and specu- 
lators in the seats of our Congress." 

" Washington and Adams tried to imitate the Master, 
in driving the money-changers out of Congress; but as 
yet their legislation has not succeeded as Christ did 
nineteen centuries ago. We must hope the people will 
become so enlightened, as to expel them by an over- 
whelming vote. 

' 'Washington declared a fact, when he said, that 'In 
exact proportion as we either alloy the precious metals, 
or admit poor paper money into the volume of the cir- 
culating medium, just in that proportion will every- 
thing in a country rise, and labor will be the first that 
will feel it. It will not benefit the farmer, nor the me- 
chanic, as it will only enable the debtor to pay his debt 
with a shadow, instead of a substance.' 

"This was in answer to a letter from a member of 
the Maryland Legislature, asking Washington's opinion 
as to the right of a State to issue paper money. He did 
not believe in contraction and inflation, which cause 
periodic panics' 1 

Never has a more withering appeal been made to a 
body — yes, two bodies, the Senate and the House of Rep- 
resentatives — to halt in the making of laws in direct 
conflict with the legislation and convictions of the men 
who made us a nation. Mr. Cooper was indeed de- 
nounced by the politicians of his time, but he and his 
coadjutors did interpose some restraint on their reck- 
less, and otherwise fatal legislation. It is more owing 
to him, than to all other men, that Congress did not 
work more ruin than it did. 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 67 



vn. 



Mr. Cooper can always best interpret himself, and I 
prefer still to let him do it. In one of his most logical 
and convincing papers of the time, and which had a 
very wide circulation, he used the following language: 

" The nation having found itself in a terrible war, and 
having exhausted all the means in its power to obtain 
gold and silver to meet the wants of the Government, 
our people were compelled to see the country over- 
powered by its enemies, or to resort to a kind of forced 
loan, drawing from the people by taking all forms of 
their property and labor, and giving them in payment 
treasury notes, demand notes, and the several forms of 
bonds in the shape of a currency to obtain the neeessary 
supplies to move and maintain armies, sufficient to save 
the life of the nation. When the great and good work 
was accomplished, a work, which gold and silver had 
failed to perform, then the amounts so expended for 
that purpose, should have been regarded as the most 
sacred treasure of the country, and should have been 
made the permanent, unfluctuating measure of all 
values throughout our whole country for all coming 
time, and never to be increased or diminished, only as 
per capita with the increase of the inhabitants of the 
country. 

"To ordain and secure such an unfluctuating measure 
of all values for all property throughout the vast extent 
of our country, and make gold perform its proper 
function, would have been a compensation of more, 
than equal value to the country, to more than replace 
the whole cost of the war of the Rebellion. 

"The currency, so expended in saving the life of the 
nation, should have been considered of more value than 



68 PETER COOPER. 

gold itself; because it performed a work that was en- 
tirely out of the power of gold and silver to accom- 
plish ; so that every dollar, expended in whatever shape, 
or whatever kind of value received, became as so much 
money, placed in the hands of the people, and would 
not only have enabled them to carry on the war, but to 
pay the entire debt of the nation without inconvenience, 
if the amount of the people's money, found in circula- 
tion at the close of the war, had been allowed to remain 
as the tools of trade, the life-blood of commerce in their 
possession ; but by shrinking the currency, and by tax- 
ing the people, and then taking their money to purchase 
bonds that were not due for twenty years, when the 
people were more in need of their own means, and the 
aid of Government, than ever before, to enable them to 
provide for the disbanded army, that had no other 
means to live, or anything to sell but their labor; by 
the shrinkage of the currency, all forms of labor were 
dried up. The source of all consumption and produc- 
tion, was alike destroyed, and a general ruin spread far 
and wide over our country. 

"Had the original law, which made paper money 
receivable for all forms of duties and debts, and con- 
vertible into six per cent interest-bearing bonds, been 
continued, we would not only have had all our bonds 
taken at home, but prosperity would have still smiled 
on our country. 

"As it is now, the Government has taken from the 
people the tools of their trade, and has used its power 
contrary to the interests of the people, in the purchase 
of bonds not due for twenty years, loading the people 
with taxes, destroying and breaking up the business of 
the country. 

"Nothing short of a compliance with the very first 



PUBLIC ECONOMY, 69 

requirement of the Constitution, will stay the torrent of 
evil, and restore prosperity again to our suffering peo- 
ple. The establishment of justice demands, that the 
people should have the same amount of currency con- 
tinued, to enable them to pay the debts of the nation, 
that was required to enable them to prosecute the war. 
" The Government, having taken all forms of property 
and labor from the people, gave them treasury notes as 
an equivalent for gold, as long as they had it; and 
when they had not the paper promise of the Govern- 
ment, legal tenders, receivable for debts, taxes, etc. " 

VIII. 

In the modern age of our Republic, no body of citizens 
has been formed for high patriotic purposes, that could 
claim superiority in any respect over the Union League 
Club of New York City. Mr. Cooper was one of its 
early members, and from first to last held the most ex- 
alted rank in their esteem. It may be well imagined 
with what deep interest these words of their aged as- 
sociate were regarded during one of the most depress- 
ing periods of American business : 

" Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Union League 
Club : I find myself impelled by an irresistible desire to 
call and fix the attention of every lover of his kind and 
country on those appalling causes, that have so effec- 
tually paralyzed the varied industries of our people. 
Those causes have been sufficient to shrink the real 
estate of the nation to one half the amount it would 
have brought three years ago; ana that without having 
shrunk at the same time any of the debts, which had 
been contracted by the use of money, authorized by 
the Government of our country. There is nothing, that 
can be more important, than to find out and remove the 



70 PETER COOPER. 

causes, that are bringing bankruptcy and ruin to the 
homes of millions of the most industrious men of our 
nation. The national policy, which has brought this 
frightful calamity on our people, should receive the 
most thorough investigation and the most decided action 
by the Government of our country. There is but one 
way of relief out of all this national trouble and sorrow. 
The people themselves must enforce upon the admin- 
istration the obligations, laid down in the Constitution, 
"to establish justice, and thus secure the general wel- 
fare of the nation. " To do this, let us take it out of 
the power of States or Corporations to make, or un- 
make, the money of the country. It is the sole duty 
of the Government to coin money, as the Constitution 
requires. Let the Government itself, through its Ad- 
ministration j be restrained from meddling capriciously 
with the currency, and only under permanent laws and 
a well-understood and predetermined policy, always 
having reference to the good of the people. 

"Let us have a national currency, issued solely by 
the authority and supported in circulation by the taxing 
power and the solvency of our Government. Such a 
currency should be fixed in volume, as per capita, to the 
amount of the people's money, actually found in circu- 
lation at the close of the war; and it should be made as 
certain and as permanent in value in its measuring 
power as the yard, pound, and bushel, by its being 
made redeemable for all Government taxes and debts, 
except duties on imports. Our Government is bound 
by the requirements of the Constitution to make the 
necessary and proper law, as well as a legal tender 
money for all private debts. This currency must be 
always inter convertible with Government bonds at a low 
rate of interest, as compared with active investment. 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 71 

It should be a currency, which a bank or corporation 
cannot rightfully issue, enlarge, or contract in its own 
interest, and which cannot be taken from the hands of 
the people by the ' ever-shifting balances of commodi- 
ties ' between nations, as is the case with gold and sil- 
ver, when used as money. B will not be subject to any 
sudden contractions or expansions, but will be regulated 
by established law, based on scientific facts and princi- 
ples of a just system of national finances. The treas- 
ury notes can be made just such a currency. This cur- 
rency can always be kept on an average par with gold, 
or the currency of any other country, by the encour- 
agement and the support, which it will give to the 
industry and the productiveness of the country. It will 
increase indefinitely the country's exporting power. 
We will then pay our balances with other nations with 
our surplus products, and have but little occasion for 
the use of gold and silver to pay balances of trade. We 
can in no way become an exporting nation, except by 
stimulating our own productiveness, diversified and 
enlarged in every direction of human industry in which 
our materials are as good and abundant as those of 
other nations, and the labor and skill are ready for use, 
if properly encouraged. For this purpose I believe it will 
be wise for us to remove all internal taxation, and rely 
solely on a sufficient revenue tariff to meet the expenses of 
Government. This subject is very much misunderstood 
or misrepresented by our own advocates of free trade. 
It is the surplus productions of foreign countries mostly, 
that reach our shores as imports, and it is also the sur- 
plus capital of the importers and foreigners, that is 
employed to bring them here. Hence it is but right to 
tax this surplus for the absolute wants of our own do- 
mestic industry and capital. This is precisely what a 



72 PETER COOPER. 

tariff accomplishes. It taxes the importer and foreigner 
chiefly, who must find a market somewhere, and those 
of our people, who will buy and use foreign products, 
which leave our own good raw materials unused, and 
our own domestic laborers unemployed. This is violat- 
ing the first law of nature — self-preservation. Let us 
take care of our own people here at home, as the first 
duty of our own Government. And let us not make 
the great mistake of the governing classes in France, 
England, and Germany, where the wages of the opera- 
tives and workingmen are reduced to a bare subsist- 
ence. 

"It is this ignorance or want of patriotism, that stands 
in the way of the public weal, both in the management 
of our finances, and the adoption of a judicious tariff. 
The people alone can vindicate their rights, and secure 
their own welfare, by taking an intelligent and proper 
interest in the administration of their own Government. 
Let them require from this Administration a return to 
the principles of public justice and equal rights. Let 
the Government be required in some proper way to re- 
store to the people the tools of their trade and com- 
merce, which have been so unjustly and cruelly taken 
from them. Let there be provision made for the return 
of the whole of that currency found in circulation at 
the close of the Rebellion, which was worked out and 
paid for by the people in the labor, material, and ser- 
vice which they had rendered to the Government during 
our struggle for the nation's life. It was a currency, 
which had lifted the American people into a state of 
unexampled prosperity, never before known in this or 
any other country, and which can be restored to the 
people by the issue of treasury notes, paid out for the 
necessary expenses of Government, for the execution of 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 7$ 

great necessary international works, such as the North- 
ern and Southern Pacific railroads, which, when made, 
will strengthen the bonds of the Union, and open a 
vast country, with its untold wealth, for the enterprise 
and labor of the people. I have sounded these notes of 
encouragement, warning, and advice time and again; 
because I believe they are for the peace and happiness 
of our country. 

"At my advanced age I have no personal ambition 
or motive left but the welfare of mankind, and the 
prosperity of my beloved country. If it were the last 
word I should utter with my dying breath, I should 
warn the people of this country against the insidious 
wiles of professed politicians, who are seeking for the 
spoils of office and the attractions of power — men, 
who are ready to lend themselves to all special and par- 
tial acts of legislation, if they can only advance their 
own individual interests. Such men oppose civil ser- 
vice because it will curtail their political patronage; 
such men barter the rights, the prosperity, and even 
the bread of the people, in order to share in the spoils 
and the temporary gains, which are thrown into the 
hands of a few by a pernicious system of banking, of 
which the periodical panics of our country bear a fright- 
ful record. They are the natural outgrowth of the same 
injurious system. 

■ ' My arguments will be confirmed by a reference to 
the facts, stated in the following letter in relation to 
the currency by F. E. Spinner, the former Assistant 
Secretary. Mr. Spinner says, that there was put in cir- 
culation, in all the forms of six per cent, five per cent, 
and 3.65 per cent, of legal tender money, $1,152,924,- 
892, besides the seven-thirties, $830,000,000, which Mr. 
Spinner says were intended, prepared, and used as cur- 



74 PETER COOPER. 

rency. This amount had been paid out as so many- 
dollars, and had become the people's money, which the 
Government was then and forever, bound to receive 
from the people as legal tender dollars for every form 
of taxes, duties, and debts. The failure of the Govern- 
ment to do that duty has cost the nation thousands of 
millions of dollars. It will be recollected by many 
members of this Club, that we were favored on a former 
occasion by Prof. White, of Cornell University, w r ith 
an account of the losses, sustained by the people of 
France by the use of assignats, authorized by that Gov- 
ernment. I have always regretted, that my esteemed 
friend, Prof. White, had not gone far enough into the 
true history of the rise and progress of the assignats, 
to see that the injurious losses, occasioned by them, did 
not arise from an improper action of the republican 
Government, but from the combined powers of the in- 
ternal and external enemies of the Republic. This will 
appear by the following facts: 

" The assignats of France were based on the confis- 
cated property of the clergy and nobility, in w r hich both 
the clergy and nobility had a deep interest, that led 
them to denounce the assignats, as based on theft and 
outrage. There was another royal party, which united 
in declaring that their lands had been taken without 
any of the forms of law, and therefore the title still re- 
mained in the clergy. The parties all united in declar- 
ing, that the assignats were utterly without any basis to 
secure their redemption. The parties never ceased to 
agitate and war on the credit of the assignats. But 
finding the Revolution too strong for them, and that its 
cause was being so successfully strengthened by con- 
quering the enemies of libert}^ and of the nation, that 
Other nations were yielding to its power, that its armies 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 75 

were victorious, arid that its principles, as developed by 
the Constitution and laws, were such as reason and 
humanity approved, history tells us, that all the ene- 
mies of the new French Government united in an effort 
to destroy the power of the new government by circu- 
lating counterfeit assignats in every direction. The 
counterfeiting commenced in 1792 in Belgium and 
Switzerland, and was used extensively, as the best 
means of destroying the power of the Republic. It 
was found by the nobility, that Belgium and Switzer- 
land were too much in sympathy with the revolutionists 
to be trusted. They then extended their operations to 
London, where they found more scope and greater op- 
portunities for uninterrupted work. History charges, 
that England lent her aid by allowing ' seventeen manu- 
facturing establishments in operation in London, with 
a force of four hundred men, in the production of the 
assignats.' 

"It was found that 12,000,000,000 of counterfeit 
francs had been circulated in France, when only 7,860,- 
000,000 of francs had been issued by the Government, 
showing that the danger of an over- issue was from the 
enemies of the Government, and not from the Govern- 
ment itself. The assessed value of the property, on 
which were based the 7,860,000,000 of francs, w T as, in 
1795, 15,000,000,000, showing, that as long as the con- 
fiscation of property was maintained by the Govern- 
ment, the assignats had good security for their redemp- 
tion. 

"It is more than probable, th.Mt we shall see again 
what are called 'prosperous times,' when the banks 
have annihilated our greenback currency, and have sub- 
stituted their own money, on the old and false pretence 
of a 'specie basis,' which makes their money 'as good 



76 PETER COOPER. 

as gold,' until the gold is really wanted. But I warn 
my countrymen that this will be a baseless prosperity, 
that can only last while there are any securities or prop- 
erty, that can be pledged for loans, the loans themselves 
being puffed up under the conceit that they are payable 
in gold; then another crash will come, and we shall 
have the same scenes of desolation and suffering, that 
we have experienced as a people for the past three 
years. 

"I do most earnestly beseech the American people to 
see to it, that their chosen rulers are men, imbued with 
the spirit and letter of the Constitution, which, after a 
great struggle, was enacted * to establish justice, pro- 
mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of 
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, ' " 

IX. 

I come now to the last quotations from the essays, let- 
ters, and addresses of Mr. Cooper on Political Economy, 
as they appear in his great volume. They refer to his 
views on the subject of Protection of the industry of 
his country, and I believe they were his last public 
utterances. Of them he said: 

' 'While they were printing the last pages of this 
book, I was preparing this short address, to be delivered 
February 1, 1883, at the meeting of ''The New York 
Association for the Protection of American Industry," in 
the large Hall of Cooper Institute. As it maybe my 
last public address, I add it here: 

••' 'We have assembled, my friends, to call your atten- 
tion to one of the most important subjects, that can 
now claim the care of the American people. The advo- 
cates of free trade with foreign nations, are trying to 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 77 

persuade our Government and people, that it is for our 
interest to \my from other countries all the luxuries 
they have to offer. 

" ' These advocates of free trade propose, that our own 
mechanics shall either work at the starvation prices of 
the foreign laborers, or be forced to abandon their 
trades and become competitors with the agriculturists 
of the country. 

" ' If we desire to bring upon our whole nation a fate 
similar to that, which has fallen to the lot of Ireland, 
Turkey, Mexico, and Hindostan, it is only necessary to 
arrange our tariff in a way, that will induce the people 
to have all their manufacturing done in foreign coun- 
tries, and pay for it with the raw materials of our own. 
Such a policy will, if I am not mistaken, secure for our 
Union of States as rapid a decline and fall as that which 
fell to the lot of Spain, when the Moors, her principal 
manufacturers, were driven out of the country. Such 
a policy might gratify our thirst for all the dearly 
bought follies and fashions of European life; but it 
would bring ruin and wretchedness upon hundreds of 
thousands of the mechanics of our country, who have 
nothing to sell but their labor. 

" ' To break up this diversified employment of so vast 
a number by a change of tariff, and then expect them 
to find for themselves other means of living, is about as 
reasonable as it was for Pharaoh to expect the Israel- 
ites to make bricks without straw.' " 



This portion of my brief sketch may not perhaps 
possess any charm for youthful readers, who cannot 
easily understand the true principles of good government. 
But they may, in riper years, see their vast significance. 



78 PETER COOPER. 

I could not, however, omit this great feature of Mr. 
Cooper's life as an illuminated statesman, without 
presenting a very much more incomplete portrait of 
him than I wished to paint, and I thought it better to 
quote his own words, than to attempt any feeble sum- 
mary of them myself. Early scholarship could have 
done him no good. His honest, strong, earnest Anglo- 
Saxon needed none of the embellishments of art. It 
corresponded perfectly with the directness of his pur- 
poses, and the naive simplicity of his character. He 
was a stranger to artifice. He went as straight to his 
object, as a carrier pigeon to its home cote. He had 
no more idea of deceit or evasion, than a man born 
blind has of colors. These passions ruled his life. He 
worshipped a common Father of mankind, and loved all 
men as his brothers. He worshipped the One, and i uok 
the others to his bosom. 

On one of the balmy evenings of last autumn, I found 
my walk had led me by his house, and seeing him sit- 
ting near the window, I crossed the door sill and en- 
tered his familiar room on the first floor. It was a 
favored moment to see the real living Peter Cooper. He 
sat in perfect repose in his easy-chair looking away 
through the twilight, and his calm face appeared so 
serene I was half afraid I had disturbed him, and said so. 
" Oh, no, no; sit down: I am glad you came in. Can 
you guess what I was thinking of? Well, when I am in 
one of those quiet reveries which we are all apt to in- 
dulge in at the close of the day after its work is done, 
and the curtains of night are being drawn so tenderly 
around us by the loving Father's hands, I recall many 
of the blessed things we have read years and years ago. 
Weil, Pope's "Universal Prayer" came back to me a 
little while since, so fresh, and it struck me very for- 



PUBLIC ECONOMY. 79 

cibly. Will you let me go over it aloud, and see if I 
have forgotten it? 

Father of All 1 In every age, 

In every clime adored 
By saint, by savage and by sage, 

Jehovah, Jove or Lord 1 
Thou Great First Cause, least understood, 

Who all my sense confined 
To know but this, that thou art good, 

And I myself am blind; 
Yet gave me in this dark estate 

To see the good from ill, 
And binding Nature fast in fate, 

Left free the human will. 
What conscience dictates to be done 

Or warns me not to do, 
This teach me more than hell to shun, 

That more than heaven pursue. 
What blessings Thy free bounty gives 

Let me not cast away; 
For God is paid when man receives: 

To enjoy is to obey. 
Yet not to earth's contracted span 

Thy goodness let me bound, 
Or think Thee, Lord, alone of man 

When thousand worlds are round. 
Let not this weak unknowing hand 

Presume Thy bolts to throw, 
And deal damnation round the land 

On each I judge Thy foe. 
If I am right, Thy grace impart 

Still in the right to stay; 
If I am wrong, oh, teach my heart 

To find that better way. 
Save me alike from foolish pride. 

Or impious discontent 
At aught thy wisdom has denied, 

At aught Thy goodness lent. 
Teach me to feel another's woe, 
To hide the fault I see; 



80 PETER COOPER. 

That mercy I to others show 

That mercy show to me, 
Mean though I am, not wholly so, 

Since quickened by thy breath; 
Oh lead me wheresoe'er I go 

Through this day's life or death! 
This day be bread and peace my lot; 

All else beneath the sun 
Thou know'st if best bestowed or not, 

And let Thy will be done. 
To Thee whose temple is all space, 

Whose altar, earth, sea, skies 1 
One chorus let all Being raise, 

All nature's incense rise! 

He spoke more and more earnestly, and as he went 
on, his voice grew tremulous with feeling, and large 
tears rolled from his glistening blue eyes do\^h his 
smooth and still ruddy cheeks, and looking upward, he 
exclaimed, " Oh, my dear friend, if everybody felt as 
Pope did when he wrote those words, what a world this 
would be!" As I gazed into the beaming face of the 
patriarch and philanthropist, it seemed to me the most 
beautiful countenance I had ever seen. 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, 
i. 

Mr. Cooper had no aspirations for any political office 
whatever, least of all for the office of President of 
the United States: he never dreamed of it. But his 
views on the vital subjects of Finance and Good Gov- 
ernment had been so widely circulated, and made so 
deep an impression upon the minds of candid, patriotic 
and clear-headed men everywhere, that a party under 
the name of the National Independent Party had come 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 81 

forward to advocate them, and test the chances of their 
triumph in a broad appeal to the independent electors 
of the county in the approaching election. 

There was one man alone, among forty millions of 
Americans, to whom all eyes were turned for a candi- 
date, and in a great National Convention held at In- 
dianapolis on the 17th of May, 1876, Peter Cooper was 
unanimously chosen, on the following Platform as a 
Declaration of Principles : 

"The Independent Party is called into existence by 
the necessities of the people, whose industries are pros- 
trated, whose labor is deprived of its just reward, as 
the result of the serious mismanagement of the national 
finances, which errors both the Republican and Demo- 
cratic parties neglect to correct. In view of the failure 
of these parties to furnish relief to the depressed indus- 
tries of the country, thereby disappointing the just 
hopes and expectations of a suffering people, we de- 
clare our principles and invite all independent and 
patriotic men to join our ranks in this movement for 
financial reform, and industrial emancipation. 

First — We demand the immediate and unconditional 
• repeal of the Specie-resumption Act of January 14, 
1875, and the rescue of our industries from the disaster 
and ruin resulting from its enforcement; and we call 
upon all patriotic men to organize in every Congres- 
sional district of the country, with the view of electing 
representatives to Congress who will legislate for, and 
a Chief Magistrate who will carry out the wishes of 
the people in this regard, and thus stop the present 
suicidal and destructive policy of contraction. 

Second — We believe that United States notes, issued 
directly by the Government and convertible on demand 
into United States obligations, bearing an equitable 



82 PETER COOPER 

rate of interest (not exceeding one cent a day on each 
one hundred dollars), and interchangeable with United 
States notes at par, will afford the best circulating 
medium ever devised; such United States notes should 
be a full legal tender for all purposes, exeept for the 
payment of such obligations as are by existing con- 
tracts expressly made payable in coin. And we hold 
that it is the duty of the Government to provide such 
a circulating medium, and we insist, in the language 
of Thomas Jefferson, "that bank paper must be sup- 
pressed and the circulation restored to the nation, to 
whom it belongs." 

Third— It is the paramount duty of the Government 
in all its legislation to keep in view the full develop- 
ment of all legitimate business — agricultural, mining, 
manufacturing and commercial. 

Fourth — We most earnestly protest against any fur- 
ther issue of gold bonds, for sale in foreign markets, 
by means of which we would be made, for a longer 
period, hewers of wood and drawers of water for 
foreign nations, especially as the American people 
would gladly and promptly take at par, all the bonds 
the Government may need to sell, provided they are 
made payable at the option of the holder, although 
bearing interest at three and sixty-five one hundredths 
per cent per annum, or even a lower rate. 

Fifth — We further protest against the sale of Gov- 
ernment bonds for the purpose of buying silver to be 
used as a substitute for our more convenient and less 
fluctuating fractional currency, which, although well 
calculated to enrich the owners of silver mines, yet in 
operation will still further oppress through taxation, an 
already overburdened people." 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 83 



ii. 

Mr. Cooper heartily approved the platform, and felt 
obliged to accept the nomination, but only conditionally, 
saying in letter: 

" While I most heartily thank the Convention through 
you for the great honor they have thus conferred upon 
me, kindly permit me to say, that there is a bare pos- 
sibility, if wise counsel prevails, that the sorely needed 
relief from the blighting effects of past unwise legisla- 
tion, relative to finance, which the people so earnestly 
seek, may }^et be had through either the Republican or 
Democratic party; both of them meeting in national 
convention at an early date. It is unnecessary for me 
to assure you that, while I have no aspiration for the 
position of Chief Magistrate of this great Republic, I 
will most cheerfully do what I can to forward the best 
interests of my country. I, therefore, accept your 
nomination, conditionally, expressing the earnest hope, 
that the Independent Party may yet attain its exalted 
aims, while permitting me to step aside and remain in 
that quiet, which is most congenial to my nature and 
time of life." 

in. 

But before the nomination was made, Mr. Cooper 
had laid before the Convention the following Address, 
which presents so fair and eloquent an exposition of 
his financial principles, that it may justly claim a place 
even in so brief a sketch as this. 

" Gentlemen of the Convention: 

" We have met, my friends, to unite in a course of 
efforts to find out, and, if possible, to remove a cause of 
evil, that has shrunk the value of the real estate of the 



84 PETER COOPER. 

nation to a condition, where it cannot be sold, or mort- 
gages obtained on it, for much more than one half the 
amount, that the same property would have brought 
three years ago. This dire calamity has been brought 
on our country by the acts of our Government. The 
first act took from the national money its power to pay 
interest on bonds and duties on imports. The second 
act has contracted the currency of the country, until it 
has shrunk the value of property to its present condi- 
tion by destroying public confidence; and that without 
shrinking any of the debts contracted in its use. 

" I do most humbly hope, that I will be able to show 
the fatal causes, which have been allowed to operate, 
and bring this wretchedness and ruin to the homes of 
untold thousands of men and women throughout our 
country. 

" Facts will show, that it was the unwise acts of our 
own Government, that has allowed a policy to prevail, 
more in the interest of foreign Governments than our 
own. 

" It was these unwise acts of legislation, that brought 
discredit on our national money, as I have said, by in- 
troducing into the law, which created it, that terrible 
word except, which took from our legal money its power 
to pay interest on bonds, and duties on imports. 

" The introduction of that little word except into the 
original law drew tears from the eyes of Thaddeus 
Stephens, when he looked down the current of events, 
and saw our bonds in the hands of foreigners, who 
would be receiving a gold interest on every hundred 
dollars of bonds, that cost them but fifty or sixty dol- 
lars in gold. 

" But for the introduction of that word except into 
the original law, our bonds would have been taken at 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 85 

par by our own people, and the interest would have 
been paid at home in currency, instead of being paid to 
foreigners in gold. 

"An additional calamity has been brought on our 
country by a national policy, that has taken from the 
people their currency, the tools of their trades, the very 
life-blood of the traffic and commerce of our country. 

' ' Facts show, that in 1865 there were in the hands of 
the people, as a currency, $58 per head, and that at a 
time of our greatest national prosperity. 

" We have now arrived at a time of unequalled ad- 
versity, with a currency in 1875 of $17^% per head, with 
failures, amounting to two hundred millions of dollars in 
a year. 

"Among the causes, that now afflict the country, it 
may be well to look at the enormous increase in our 
foreign importations, which amounted to 359 millions 
in the year 1868, increased to 684 millions of dollars in 
1873, and were 574 millions of dollars in 1875.* 

* The following is a statement of the interest of money paid 
by the United States since the close of the war of the Rebellion. 
The following statement shows, that $1,422,057,577 has been paid 
in interest in 11^| years: 

Principal— Interest-bearing $1,717,642,130 

Non interest-bearing 473,923,757 

$2,191,565,887 
Interest due on above 33,092,616 

$2,224,658,503 
Less cash in Treasury . . 154,299,886 

Debt at May 1, 1877 $2,070,358,617 

Debtat July 7, 1866 2,783,425,879 

Reduction since July 1, 1866 (10 10-12 years). $713,067,262 
Since the close of the war, or from July 1, 1865, to April 1, 1877, 



86 PETER COOPER. 

"I tlrink you will agree with me, when I say, that 
prosperity can never be restored to our beloved country, 
b} r a national policy that enforces idleness and financial 
distress on so vast a number of the laborers and business 
men of this country. Our nation's wealth must forever 
depend on the application of knowledge, economy, and 
well-directed labor to all the useful and necessary pur- 
poses of life, but also a proper legislation for the 
people. 

" The American people can never buy anything cheap 
from foreign countries that must be bought at the cost of 
leaving our own good raw materials unused, and our own 
labor unemployed. 

" I find myself compelled to believe that much of the 
past legislation of our country, in reference to tariff and 
currency, has been adopted under the advice and influ- 
ence of men in the interest of foreign nations, that have 



(11^; years), the interest on the public debt was $1,422,057,567, or 
$121,000,000 per annum! 

The universal cry over the land is for employment. When 
well employed the people are well clothed, well fed and well 
housed. The adjustment of the fiscal question— not for one 
class, but for the masses— must be made ere prosperity is ours. 
The recall from Europe of our gold bonds (by sale of commodi- 
ties, placing them at low interest) and substituting greenbacks 
for national bank-notes, would remove grievous burdens, pro- 
viding employment by stimulating our depressed industries. 

Will President Hayes inaugurate this just policy, insuring 
general prosperity and spontaneous " resumption," or the par 
of paper with gold? 

The true remedy for national relief from the enslavement of 
debt, with its burden of taxation, is the substitution of green- 
backs for national bank-notes. 

The national banks have received since 1866, twenty-one mil- 
lions of dollars interest on bonds deposited with the Govern- 
ment. 



A PBES1DENTIAL CANDIDATE. 87 

a direct motive to mislead and deceive us. Our pros- 
perity as a nation will commence to return when the 
Congress of our country shall assume its own inherent 
sovereign right to furnish all the inhabitants of the 
United States a redeemable, uniform, unfluctuating na- 
tional currency. 

" I do heartily agree with Senator Jones when he says, 
that ' the present is the acceptable time to undo the 
unwitting and blundering work of 1873; and to render 
our legislation on the subject of money, consistent with 
the physical facts concerning the stock and supply or 
the precious metals throughout the world, and conform- 
able to the Constitution of our country/ 

"I sincerely hope that the concluding advice of Sen- 
ator Jones will make a living and lasting impression, 
when he says, speaking to the present Senate, ' We can. 
not, we dare not, avoid speedy action on the subject. 
Not only does reason, justice, and authority unite in 
urging us to retrace our steps, but tlte organic law com- 
mands us to do so; and the presence of peril enjoins 
what the law commands/ 

" The Senator states a most important fact, and one 
which all know to be true, ' that by interfering with the 
standards of the country, Congress has led the country 
away from the realms of prosperity, and thrust it be- 
yond the bounds of safety.' He says, truly, 'to refuse 
to replace it upon its formei vantage-ground would be 
to incur a responsibility and a deseved reproach greater 
than that which men have ever before felt themselves 
able to bear. ' 

" It will require all the wisdom that can be gathered 
from the history aud experience of the past, to enable 
us to work out our salvation from the evils which an 
unwise legislation has brought on our country. 



88 PETER COOPER. 

"It will be found that nothing short of a full, fair, 
and frank performance of the first duty, enjoined on 
Congress by the Constitution, will ever restore perma- 
nent prosperity to us as a nation. 

"It is a remarkable fact, that the most essential ele- 
ment of our colonial and national prosperity was ob- 
tained by the use of the legal tender paper money — the 
very thing that our present rulers seem now determined 
to ridicule and bring into contempt. We are apt to 
forget that the continental money secured for us a coun- 
try, and the greenback currency has saved us a nation. 

"Sir A. Alison, the able and indefatigable English 
historian, has borne testimony to the superior power 
and value of paper money. He says: 'When sixteen 
hundred thousand men, on both sides, were in the con- 
tinental wars with France in Germany and Spain alone, 
where nothing could be purchased except by specie, it 
is not surprising that guineas went, where they were so 
much needed, and bore so high a price. ... In truth, 
such was the need of precious metals, owing to this 
cause, that one tenth of the currency of the world was 
attracted to Germany as a common centre, and the de- 
mand could not be supplied ; and by a decree in Sep- 
tember, 1813, from Peterwalsden, in Germany, the al- 
lied sovereigns issued paper notes, guaranteed by Rus- 
sia, Prussia, and England. These notes passed as cash 
from Kamtschatka to the Rhine, and gave the currency 
which brought the war to a successful close. ' 

"In a recent edition of the ' History of Europe/ Sir 
A. Alison gives an additional evidence of the important 
advantages which experience has demonstrated to result 
from the use of paper currency. 

11 He says: 'To the suspension of <iash payments by 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 89 

the act of 1797, and the power in consequence, vested in 
the Bank of England, of expanding its paper circulation 
in proportion to the abstraction of a metallic currency, 
the wants of the country, and the resting of the national 
industry on a basis, not liable to be taken away by the 
mutations of commerce or the necessities of war — it is 
to these facts that the salvation of the empire must be 
ascribed. ... It is remarkable that this admirable 
system, which may be truly called the working power 
of nations during war, because at the close of the war 
the object of the most determined hostility on the part 
of the great capitalists and chief writers of Political 
Economy in the country. . . . Here,' says Sir A. 
Alison, ' as everywhere else, experience, the great test 
of the truth, has determined the question. The adop- 
tion of the opposite system of contracting the paper 
currency, in proportion to the abstraction of the metallic 
currency by the acts of 1819 and 1844, followed, as they 
were, by the monetary crises of 1825, 1839, and 1847, 
have demonstrated beyond a doubt that it was in the 
system of an expansive currency, that Great Britain, 
during the war, found the sole means of her salvation. 
From 1797 to 1815, commerce, manufactures and agri- 
culture advanced in England, in spite of all the evils of 
war, with a rapidity greater than they had previously 
done in centuries before. This proves beyond a doubt 
the power of paper money to increase the wealth of a 
nation.' 

"It is worth while to observe, that this same Sir A. 
Alison, who speaks so wisely on this subject in refer- 
ence to the history of his own country, while scanning 
a few years ago the prosperity of our country, during 
the war of the Rebellion and immediately after, has a 
foreboding of what might happen, and remarks : ' The 



90 PETER COOPER. 

American Government may make financial and legisla- 
tive mistakes, which may check the progress of the na- 
tion and counteract the advantages which paper money 
has already bestowed upon them; they may adopt the 
unwise and unjust system which England adopted at 
the close of the French war; they may resolve to pay in 
gold, and with low prices, the debt contracted with 
paper and with high prices. But whatever they may 
do/ he adds, ' nothing can shake the evidence which 
the experience of that nation during the last six years 
affords of the power of paper money to promote a na- 
tion's welfare.' 

" Sir Walter Scott, in his Malachi Margrowtlier's 
Letters, shows how the wealth of a nation is increased 
by paper money. ' I assume, ' he says, ' without hazard 
of contradiction, that banks have existed in Scotland 
for nearly one hundred and twenty years; that they 
have flourished, and the country has flourished with 
them; and that during the last twenty years particularly 
the notes, and especially the small notes, which the 
banks distribute, supply all the demand for a medium 
of currency. This system has so completely expelled 
gold from Scotland, that you never by any chance espy 
a guinea there, except in the purse of an accidental 
stranger, or in the coffers of the banks themselves. But 
the facilities which this paper has afforded to the indus- 
trious and enterprising agriculturists and manufacturers, 
as well as to the trustees of the public, in executing na- 
tional works, have converted Scotland from a poor, 
miserable, barren country into one where, if nature has 
done less, art and industry have done more than, per- 
haps, in any other country in Europe, England not ex- 
cepted.' 

44 President Grant, in his message of 1873, said: 'The 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 91 

experience of the present panic has proven that the cur- 
rency of the country, based, as it is, upon its credit, is 
the best that has ever been devised. . . . In view of the 
great actual contraction that has taken place in the 
currency, and the comparative contraction continuously 
going on, due to the increase of the population, the in- 
crease of manufactories, and of all industries, I do not 
believe there is too much of it now for the dullest period 
of the year/ 

"Notwithstanding these recommendations of the 
President, Congress has continued to tax the people and 
contract the national currency in a vain effort to arrive 
at specie payments. Our Government should have left 
that amount of currency in the hands of the people 
which the necessities of war had compelled it to put in 
circulation, as the only means of the national salvation. 

"Every dollar of currency paid out, whether gold, 
silver, or paper, was given out for value received, and 
thus became, by the act of the Government, a valid 
claim for a dollar's worth of the whole property of the 
country. Hence not a dollar of it should ever have been 
withdrawn. 

"It is now almost universally believed, that had the 
Treasury notes continued, as at first issued, to be re- 
ceived for all forms of taxes, duties and debts, they 
would have circulated to this day, as they did then, as 
so much gold, precisely as the Government paper did 
circulate in France, when put upon the same footing. 

" This would have saved our country more than one 
half of the amount of the whole expenses of the war in 
the present shrinkage of values, and the interruption to 
honest industry. It would have saved us also from the 
perpetual drainage of gold to pay interest on our foreign 
indebtedness. 



92 PETER COOPEE. 

"The paper currency, commonly called legal tenders 
or greenbacks, was actually paid out for value received 
as so much gold, when gold could not be obtained. 
This being an incontrovertible fact, it follows that every 
Treasury note, demand note, or legal tender, given out 
as money, in payment for any form of labor and prop- 
erty, received by the Government, became, in the pos- 
session of its owners, real dollars, that could not be 
taken constitutionally from the people except by uniform 
taxes, as on other property. 

" But whether our currency will be always on a par 
with gold or not, I have shown from histoiy, and in- 
controvertible facts prove it, that the commercial and in- 
dustrial prosperity of a country do not depend upon the 
amount of gold and silver there is in circulation. Our 
prosperity must continually depend upon the industry, the 
enterprise, the busy internal trade and a true independ- 
ence of foreign nations, which a paper circulation, well 
based on sound credit, has always been found to promote. 

"But I believe prosperity can never again bless our 
glorious country until justice is established, by giving 
back to the people the exact amount of currency found 
in circulation at the close of the war. That was the 
price of the nation's life. It ought to be restored and 
made the permanent and unfluctuating measure of all 
values, through all coining time — never to be increased 
or diminished, only, as per capita, with the increase of 
the inhabitants of our country." 

IV. 

It was a grand battle, nobly fought, and nobly lost, as 
had been clearly foreseen. Nobody expected Mr. Cooper 
would become President unless the election should be 
thrown into the House of Representatives by giving the 



A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 93 

National Independents the balance of power. But this 
by no means dampened the ardor of Mr. Cooper, nor 
lessened his exertions. These were to end only with his 
life. He had full faith in the ultimate triumph of his 
principles when the masses of his countrymen should be 
sufficiently instructed in them by adversity and study. 

His last appeal was made in vain to the Congress 
which went out of existence on the 4th of March pre- 
ceding his death. His dying warning will be remem- 
bered : 

"Honored Gentlemen: Your petitioner, now in 
the ninety-second year of his age, respectfully prays, 
that the present Congress may not adjourn, until they 
have made the necessary and proper law, requiring, that 
all banking shall in future be carried on with United 
States Treasury Notes, receivable for all forms of taxes, 
duties and debts, both public and private — and that, 
after the expiration of the charter of our present banks, 
no paper money shall ever be allowed to circulate in this 
country in excess of the amount of the people's money, 
actually found circulating as the currency at the close of 
the war. For every dollar of that currency the people 
had given value to the Government, and it should only 
be increased 2^ per capita with the increase of the popu- 
lation after every census. 

" Your petitioner further prays the Honorable Sena- 
tors and Representatives to examine with care the fol- 
lowing reasons, that prompted him to offer this petition : 

"Impelled as I am by an irresistible desire to do all, 
that is possible to call and fix the undivided attention of 
the Government on the appalling scenes of wretchedness 
and ruin, that would inevitably follow the re-chartering 
of the 2300 banks, deceitfully called national — I cannot 
help addressing you on this occasion once more. 



94 PETER COOPER. 

" Such an army of banks, all united in one common 
effort to secure for themselves the largest amount of in- 
terest on their small specie capital, would find it for 
their advantage to expand and contract the currency to 
attain their object. 

" Only a few weelcs ago {March 30, 1882), Hon. Richard 
Warner, M. 0.,from Tennessee, proved in Congress, that 
the banks, deceitfully styled national, have made out of the 
people the enormous sum of $1,848,930,000 within the last 
sixteen years, leaving the national debt, at the present 
time, nearly as large as it was at the close of our terrible 
war for the nation's life. 

" For one, I have the most fearful forebodings of the 
consequences, that must grow out of a re-charter of 
these grasping institutions, which are even litigating to be 
exempted from local taxes ! ! The American people are 
beginning to realize, that a national debt is not a blessing, 
as claimed by selfish monopolists, but a national curse, 
which a wise and parental Government should dread as 
we would a pestilence. 

" I have lately learned, that a secret organization has 
grown up in our country, which is known as the Knights 
of Labor, and that they already number 150,000, and 
are daily increasing from the strikes, that extend over 
the States. They are under the guidance of able and 
talented leaders, who have the wisdom and courage to 
tell their working brothers what they must do to save 
themselves and families from the enslavement of a na- 
tional debt, that enriches monopolists and non producers. 
They caution them against strikes for higher wages, and 
advise them to continue work and use their money to 
buy for each organized company a Gatling gun with 150 
rounds of ammunition, and three months' provisions for 
their families; then they may, like honest and prudent 



A PBESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 95 

men demand, obtain and maintain their ' inalienable 
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' as 
mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. 

" Such a body of industrious men, with such leaders, 
will not allow idle tramps as members of their order. 
If our bankers would act wisely and prudently, they 
would adopt the language of the late John Earl Wil- 
liams, for many years the honored President of the 
Metropolitan Bank of New York : 

V 'I would suggest, that Congress assume, at once, the 
inherent sovereign prerogative of a Government and ex- 
ercise it, by furnishing all the inhabitants of the United 
States with a uniform national currency. Surely the 
people, and the people only, have a natural right to all 
the advantages, emolument, or income, that may inure 
from the issue of either $1000 bonds with interest, or $10 
notes without, based on the faith and credit of the na- 
tion,' etc. . . . 

"In 1813 Jefferson declared: * Banknotes must be 
suppressed and the circulation restored to the nation, to 
whom it belongs,' etc. . 

" Webster predicted that conditions, which permitted 
the rapid accumulation of property in the hands of a 
few, remitting the masses to poverty, would soon de- 
stroy free institutions, etc. 

" In spite of warnings, uttered and written by sages, 
statesmen and financiers from Franklin, Jefferson, and 
Webster to Senator Jones, President John Earl Wil- 
liams and Treasurer Spinner; in spite of the seven and 
ten yearly periodic panics, that impoverished our farmers, 
manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers, and enriched 
the banks and capitalists, Secretary Folger and Comp- 
troller Knox seem now inclined to advise the re-charter- 
ing of these banks, deceitfully called national. I wish 



96 PETER COOPER. 

these two financiers could see as clearly as Treasurer 
Spinner, before it is too late. 

" The charter of these banks, deceitfully styled national, 
was granted February 25, 1863, under the pretext of a 
war measure. In 1864 they circulated but $31,235,270 
of notes, furnished and guaranteed by the United States 
Treasury; in 1865 they circulated $145,137,800, which, 
from that date to 1880, increased to $343,834,167. On 
these millions the people's Treasury has paid them in- 
terest in gold ever since, while laborers and producers 
had to take their wages in paper. Thus did the one 
hundred and twenty bankers, who were members of 
Congress, manage to legislate for their interests. Now 
their first charter being about to expire, they apply for a 
re-charter in a time of profound»peace, when there can 
be no pretext for a war measure. Such a power in the 
hands of heartless corporations is not only dangerous to 
our liberties and persons, but to our daily comforts; be- 
cause, when they see fit, they contract their circulation 
and refuse accommodation to manufacturers and em- 
ployers, who are consequently obliged to stop work and 
discharge the men and women in their employ, thus 
causing panics, poverty, misery, and ruin. Soon such 
contraction will reach farms, houses and stocks, which 
these favored banks and their friends can buy for one 
half or one quarter of their cost; because the honest 
owners cannot pay the interest and taxes thereon, all of 
which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, as 
happened from 1837 to 1841, from 1847 to 1850, from 
1857 to 1863, and from 1873 to 1878— when the laboring 
and producing classes were impoverished by special leg- 
islation, that enabled bankers and monopolists to deceive 
the people and bribe such as stood in their way. . . . 

" There was a somewhat plausible reason in 1863 to 



A PEESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. 97 

charter banks, deceitfully styled national — this reason was 
called war measure, but now, 1882, our country and the 
world ire at peace ; there is not even a war cloud. Why 
then re-charter these banks against the letter and spirit 
of the Constitution, which contains no clause or word, 
that authorizes Congress to delegate the money power 
to anybody? Allow me to cite again Senator Jones' 
emphatic language : 

" ' By interfering with the standards of the country, 
Congress has led the country aw ay from the realms of 
prosperity, and thrust it beyond the bounds of safety. 
To refuse to replace it upon its former vantage-ground 
would be to incur a responsibility and a deserved re- 
proach greater than that which men have ever before 
felt themselves able to bear. We cannot, we dare not, 
avoid speedy action on the subject. Not only does rea- 
son, justice, and authority unite in urging us to retrace 
our steps, but the organic law commands us to do so; 
and the presence of peril enjoins what the law com- 
mands. ' 

''May our Congress pass no more laws, giving away 
immense tracts of land to heartless corporations, thus 
creating land monopolies, like those that now curse the 
British Isles — and grant no charters to banks, that can 
contract and expand the people's medium of exchange 
at their pleasure ; for such legislation favors the few at 
the expense of the many; causes discontent among the 
masses, and produces Nihilists, Guiteaus, and men who 
commit acts like the one just perpetrated in Dublin, 
May 7, 1882, which disgraces the civilization of the 
nineteenth century. 

"As previously stated, I am now in the ninety-second 
year of my age. and have the satisfaction of knowing, 
that I have given to my country the best efforts of a 



98 PETER COOPEB. 

long, laborious life. In the course of my endeavors I 
have written and printed more than a million of docu- 
ments, which I have sent to Congress, to the President 
and members of the Cabinet, and to all parts of our 
common country. 

' ' The burden of my theme has been to show, that the 
Constitution has made it the imperative duty of Con- 
gress to take and hold the entire control of all, that 
should ever be allowed or used as the money of the na- 
tion. If the plan, set forth in a petition to Congress, to* 
the President and his Cabinet on the 14th of December,, 
1862, in which I showed, that my ideas of finance were 
based on the opinions of such men as Franklin, Jeffer- 
son, Madison, Calhoun, Webster, etc., whose words and 
warnings I quoted — as I do in this document — had been 
adopted, the Government would have all the means it 
wanted in Treasury notes, and we should not have an 
enormous bonded debt in 1882. " 



A MONUMENT TO PETER COOPER. 



The glory of the nation consists chiefly in the virtues 
and achievements of its founders, whether it be a mon- 
archy, an empire, or a republic. It becomes the duty 
of all writers and teachers of the young, to inculcate 
the excellence of their examples, and to preserve a lively 
memory of their noble deeds. Where this duty is ne- 
glected, a great wrong is done to the dead, the living, 
and the future. For this purpose all histories should 
be written, and all monuments erected. 

To secure this result all nations have held nnniver- 



A MONUMENT TO PETER COOPER. 90 

saries, commemorating with joy the days of their birth, 
and executed great works of art in oil, marble, and 
bronze, erected temples and columns, and, above all, 
institutions of science and learning, and, to those 
worthy of it, gorgeous mausoleums adorn churches and 
burial-places. 

No nation in the whole range of history has had so 
illustrious a roll, within the same period of time, of he- 
roes, statesmen, and patriots. 

These should all become as familiar to the mind of the 
young as household words; and during that tender pe- 
riod when impressions, the most powerful and perma- 
nent, are excited, the stories of the lives of those men 
who have done the most for their countries, should fill a 
large place in education. While all learning is valuable, ' 
that kind should be most earnestly inculcated which 
tends most directly to the increase of knowledge among 
men. This language is borrowed from that noble Eng- 
lishman who founded the Smithsonian Institution at 
Washington. Its sole object was the diffusion of knowl- 
edge, and the glory which it has shed over his name is 
surpassed by that of no American, except the founder 
of the Cooper Union. The one educates and creates, 
the other scatters the records of what comprise the dif- 
fusion of new knowledge. 

n. 

A monument to Peter Cooper is a subject on which 
the people of New York are already speaking, and va- 
rious views are held by different classes, while there is 
no difference of opinion on the point that some grand 
testimonial should be made, out of respect to his pure 
and lofty character as a citizen, and as one of the most 
illustrious promoters of education in the world. 



100 PETER COOPER. 

At former periods there was a strange insensibility 
even to the duty of marking the scenes of the triumphs 
of our arms in winning our independence, and nearly 
all our battle-fields were left as unmarked as the bleak 
lands around them. 

None but very well informed persons know where are 
the graves of all the presidents; still fewer, the resting- 
places of those men who in private life had rendered 
high services to the cause of science, art and learning. 
Several appropriations had been made by different 
Congresses and Legislatures, for the erection of monu- 
ments to those who had lived or died in the cause of 
national liberty or advancement; but with rare excep- 
tions those projected monuments were never erected; 
nor were the National or State Governments ever called 
on for the money. In a still greater number of instances, 
associations of citizens had been formed, on exciting 
occasions, to establish memorials of admiration and 
gratitude for public benefactors. But most of these 
schemes were never carried out, or the memorials were 
unworthy of those whose virtues it was proposed to 
commemorate. 

This insensibility to the claims of the departed, for a 
long time pervaded the entire community. Sadder 
sights could hardly be witnessed in any country, than 
what were commonly called "grave-yards." They 
were, for the most part, overgrown with briers, and the 
head-stones had fallen, or were reeling to the ground 
like drunken tramps. Such a thing as a beautiful ceme- 
tery, well cared for, hardly existed within the territory 
of the United States. But this barbarism was to cease 
as the generation immediately preceding the present 
should have recovered from the pressure of poverty and 
hard work, and art and refinement should assert their 



A MONUMENT TO PETER COOPER, 101 

claims on a free and great people. Rural cemeteries 
began to be established; intermural burials were pro- 
hibited, or the fashion died out. Great advances were 
made in public and private architecture; the graves of 
the departed were sought out; weeds and briers gave 
way to the living green of grass, and the charm of 
flowers; Old Mortality went through the resting-places 
of the dead restoring inscriptions, and those neglected 
hamlets of the dead were converted into gardens. An 
age of monuments had come ! To the eye of cultivated 
taste these were among the most striking signs of the 
advance of our taste and civilization. 

in. 

It was a restoration from barbarism. Before the 
generation that just preceded us had passed away, the 
example of Boston in Mt. Auburn, of Greenwood, Cy- 
press Hills, and Woodlawn, near New York, was fol- 
lowed by every city in the land, and by every considera- 
ble town. These cemeteries are now numbered by the 
thousand. All idea of a gram-yard has not only gone 
out of fashion, but nearly out of memory. 

Cemeteries — modern cemeteries — are now become 
places of resort like parks and pleasure grounds, instead 
of being haunted with ghosts to frighten children, and 
even make grown people, after dark, give them a wide 
berth. 

Like everything else in this young and impetuous 
country, the passion for monuments, especially for pub- 
lic men, was likely to be overdone — not, indeed, in 
beauty of art, nor expense lavished — and there is already 
a perceptible lack of discernment and appropriateness 
in many of these emblems. 

The old motto of never speaking ill of the dead, is 



102 PETER COOPER. 

the dictate of justice and charity. But if the same 
eulogies are to be pronounced, and the same expense 
and splendor to be invoked, over the mean and selfish 
rich man, as for the noble philanthropist, who lived for 
his fellow-men, the whole thing degenerates into a 
farce. 

rv. 

In the building of any monument to the departed, the 
deeds of the man should be taken into consideration. 
To honor and praise a bad man, is a satire on the lives 
of the good, whether they be living or dead; it is an in- 
sult to justice and mercy. 

No monument should be erected that is not appro- 
priate, any more than lying history should be written, 
for all monuments are history, and, if they be false, the 
longer they stand, the more will history be perverted. 

It is to be hoped that no such blunder or wrong will 
be perpetrated by the great community where Peter 
Cooper was universally known, respected, and beloved, 
and where there is a universal desiie to mark the respect 
that is felt for his virtues, and where the warmest de- 
sire is felt to make some grand and lasting memorial to 
his memory. The only question now in men's minds, is 
what this memorial should be. A jury of men of taste 
and discrimination could hardly conceive any fitness, 
or even propriety, in erecting a monument to Peter 
Cooper inside of the Institute or near it. 

Any such idea was abhorrent to him during his life- 
time; he shrank from it with more than reluctance, and 
if his spirit, as we believe, would be as fully conscious 
of an attempt to honor him, as he was before his depar- 
ture, it would give him pain, for he would see the hol- 
lowness of the sham. It would, to all men of right 



A MONUMENT TO PETER COOPEB. 103 

feeling, be an object of disgust, even if he had built 
that Institute with no nobler sentiment than to perpetu- 
ate his memory, as many rich men do from such mo- 
tives. He showed great discernment, and chose the 
surest way to fame. But that great mausoleum which 
will perpetuate his memory, will be forever exempt 
from such a thought. The whole tenor of his life for 
more than ninety-two years rendered such an imputa- 
tion impossible. If the great army of those he has 
blessed — now scattered all over the world — with a di- 
ploma of excellence from that institution, of which they 
are, and their children will be, prouder than of any 
parchment scroll ever sent out of an university — if these 
men and these women wish to give expression to their 
gratitude by some artistic offering, it is suggested that a 
bronze statue or bust, be executed by one of their num- 
ber (for among them are some of the best artists in the 
country), and let it be placed in the centre of the broad 
passageway of the building, so that all who ever pass 
shall see a most truthful representation of the form and 
features of their great benefactor. 

He had long ago selected one of the most sightly and 
beautiful mounds in Greenwood, where the ashes of his 
noble wife repose, with no mark over her sepulchre. 
He knew that his children, or his grandchildren, or 
even a later posterity, would be only too glad to do such 
a work. If New York wishes to ask the privilege, and 
it should be granted (which is more than doubtful), of 
erecting some magnificent monument there, let a lofty 
monument or classic temple be raised. 

v. 
But a better plan, by far, and a more eloquent expres- 
sion of their admiration for Peter Cooper's character, 



104 PETER COOPER. 

would be a general and great subscription to the endow- 
ment fund of the Institute. This would be in harmony 
with the builder's character, and the highest act this 
metropolis is capable of performing. And it would be 
the first contribution made by this city, or any other 
body of men, to this noble cause. 

In human history a parallel cannot be found, in which 
so small an amount of money for the cause of education, 
has produced such immense results. 

It can hardly be comprehended how the partial or 
complete education in the useful arts of forty thousand 
young people had been accomplished. The rich man's 
son is not supposed to be prepared for and taken com- 
mendably through a collegiate and professional educa- 
tion for anything less than five thousand dollars; and, 
in most instances, he goes out no better fitted to get his 
living and be a useful citizen than he would have been 
if he had stayed away. 

At this rate of five thousand dollars a head, for forty 
thousand young men and women going out from the 
Institute now earning their living — and most of them at 
their own price for their work — let the reader go to his 
multiplication table; the sum is bewildering. But these 
figures cannot lie. 

They are enough to put to the blush every college and 
university in the United States. It is to-day a practical 
miracle, and it will remain so until Peter Cooper's char- 
acter is far better understood; and the scale of calcu- 
lating the cost of that kind of education cannot be com- 
prehended. 

VI. 

All the Institute requires now to increase its usefulness 
is more money. There is no necessity for establishing 



A MONUMENT TO PETER COOPER. 105 

another school, or series of schools, like this; and, in 
any event, it would take a long- time to set it going, 
while there would be no hope that anything superior to 
it would be devised, or with anything like the economy 
that has been displayed here. 

It is the best system of free technical schools in the 
world. The instruction here given to the poorer youth 
of both sexes of this city has been an inestimable bene- 
fit, not alone to those who have received it, but to the 
city of which they are inhabitants. One of our chief 
journals has well said: " To enable a poor young man, 
or a young woman, to obtain such thorough instruction 
in the practical arts as is offered free of charge by Cooper 
Institute, is to enable a constantly increasing number to 
enter these avocations, which are not only better paid 
than the work of mere laborers, but which also raise 
those wiio perform them, in the scale of intelligence, and 
make them therefore the more valuable citizens. What 
would please the founder most, would be the enlargement 
and secured continuance of the Institute schools. " 

vn. 

These views were also still more strikingly enforced 
by an appeal to the leading capitalists of the metropolis 
in the New York Herald, when speaking of "the debt 
of New York manufacturers to the Cooper Union." I 
cannot refrain from quoting it: 

"Few statistics of the census of 1880 were regarded by 
the country with greater interest than those which re- 
vealed last year that the city of New York is the first 
city of the Union in manufactures as well as commerce. 
Philadelphia had been so accustomed to boast of that 
distinction for herself that her inhabitants were be- 
wildered by the contrast between their claim and the 



106 PETER COOPER. 

facts, and have scarcely yet recovered from their amaze- 
ment. Here are the figures of the census year for com- 
parison : 

New York. Philadelphia. 

Number of factories 1 1 ,339 8,567 

Capital $181,206,356 $187,148,857 

Workpeople employed 227,352 185,527 

Wages paid $97,030,021 $64,265,966 

Materials consumed $288,441,691 $199,155,477 

Products $472,926,437 $324,342,935 

"If the manufactures of Brooklyn, Jersey City and 

Newark are grouped with those of New York, as they 

fairly should be, the comparison, of course, becomes 

more striking: 

Brooklyn. Jersey City. Newark. 

Number of factories 5,201 584 1.319 

Capital $61,646,749 $11,899,915 $25,679,885 

Wages paid $22,487,457 $4,622,655 $13,171,339 

Workpeople employed.. 47,587 11.138 30,046 

Materials consumed $129,085,091 $49,738,985 $44,604,335 

Products $177,223,142 $60,473,905 $69,252,705* 

' ' No census figures are available to show precisely how 
much of the labor put into the manufactures of New 
York and its three neighbors should be termed ' skilled 
labor;' but nobody can reasonably doubt that of the 
three hundred and sixteen thousand factory hands, a 
much greater proportion is entitled to be so classified 
than would be the case anywhere else in the United 
States. It needs only the slightest consideration of the 
extraordinary variety and subdivision of their occupa- 
tions to prove that this is so. A comparison again with 
Philadelphia between the amount of capital and the 
value of products indicates it. The Philadelphia fac- 
tories, with a larger capital invested in buildings and 
machinery, produce fabrics of only two thirds of the 
value of those of New York. The superior value of the 
New York products depends, doubtless, in a lafge de- 
gree upon that of materials manipulated ; but the figures 



A MONUMENT TO PETER COOPER. 107 

we have cited warrant a belief that it is attributable in 
a larger degree to the artistic skill of the operatives. 

"This brings us to the point to which we wish to 
direct attention — the debt New York manufacturers owe 
to the technical and art schools of the Cooper Union, 
which educate labor to the high standard of skill that is 
needful, and the obligation that rests on them to endow, 
enlarge and foster those schools out of self-interest for 
-the future as well as gratitude for the past. Whatever 
the explanation may be, it is a fact which does discredit 
to them that they never have supplemented the gener- 
ous gifts of Peter Cooper which have inured to their 
advantage. We do not know of a cent that any of them 
ever has contributed in this direction. We have heard 
of the gift of a moderate sum by a Massachusetts manu- 
facturer annually for the last seven years for special in- 
struction in industrial design in the drawing classes of 
the Woman's Art School of the Union; and that is the 
solitary instance, we believe, of any such benefaction, 
and its results ought to make New York manufacturers 
blush still more deeply. Pupils who have enjoyed this 
special course provided by the intelligent liberality of a 
citizen of another State — although they are women, and 
although their instruction was general and not technical 
— have been eagerly invited into employment by New 
York makers of glass, carpets, wall-papers and other 
fine fabrics, and are to-day intrusted with very responsi- 
ble charges in their factories. 

"New York and Philadelphia both have outgrown 
the era in their development as manufacturing cities 
during which they safely could rely upon deriving a 
suitable and sufficient supply of artistic laborers from 
other communities. The textile manufacturers of Phil- 
adelphia, with an intelligent perception of their needs, 



108 PETER COOPER. 

opened more than a year ago a subscription, which 
Boon mounted to a large sum, to found a school there 
for special instruction in the textile arts. Almost at the 
same time General McClellan, then Governor of New 
Jersey, urged the Legislature of that State to make a 
liberal appropriation to encourage special instruction 
for ceramic manufactures. In these and other instances 
that may be cited a clearer perception of self-interest is 
shown than New York, with one noble exception, has 
displayed. 

' 'Peter Cooper was not merely charitable — he was 
far-sighted and public- spirited in the highest degree in 
his foundation of the Cooper Union. His benefaction 
was not merely for the scholars in the Union schools, it 
was also for the particular advantage of the manufac- 
turers of New York and for the general welfare of his 
native city. He w T as a quarter of a century ahead of 
any of his fellow-citizens in his foresight. He antici- 
pated one of the most serious of their present necessi- 
ties. It remains for them to take up his noble work 
and carry it on for their own advantage. The New 
York manufacturers owe to the Cooper Union an imme- 
diate endowment of its schools with at least the sum he 
contributed to them, which, at the most moderate esti- 
mate, exceeds two million dollars. It is a fair test of 
their intelligence whether they will hasten to make such 
an endowment. There never will be a more propitious 
opportunity for them than this to combine self-interest 
with a grateful recognition of their obligation to the 
good man whose praise to-day is on every tongue. Nor 
should contributions come from manufacturers alone. 
The whole city is interested. Whatever harms or helps 
any branch of its business — industrial or mercantile — 
harms or helps all branches. Whenever and wherever 



TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 109 

efforts are visible to develop better talent, skill and 
taste in manufactures than New York has, or to draw 
away from New York the best that it possesses, the 
whole community is concerned. New York needs to be 
as jealous of competition with its industries as it is of 
incursions on its commerce." 

It is impossible to believe that New York will not re- 
spond with her proverbial munificence to so grand and 
splendid an object. 



TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF PETER 
COOPER. 



They were universal and sincere. His native city 
could not help clothing itself with the emblems of 
mourning, but they indicated a feeling far different 
from that which usually lowers the flags and standards 
of nations at half mast, and displays the signs of private 
sorrow. There was no gloom, no sadness, none of the 
pain of bereavement which the early doom of the brave, 
the loved and the beautiful inspire; it was a higher and 
sublimer sentiment. The eyes of all the generous and 
the good filled with tears of gratitude that the great 
friend of humanity had lived — not that he rested from 
his labors when his noble work was done. We knew 
that no tomb could hold Mm — only his ashes. He was 
with us still, and would be with all the future. For 
such a man there is no death — only immortality. 

n. 

A million of people wanted to have his body laid " in 
state " in the City Hall, for every one wished to cast a 



110 PETER COOPER. 

final glance at the calm familiar face of the beloved 
man. But those who alone could decide, knew the 
wishes of the departed, and his obsequies were from the 
beginning to the end distinguished by the utmost sim- 
plicity and lack of ostentation which corresponded with 
his life and character. Hence no pomp made the funeral 
one to be remembered as a magnificently sombre pag- 
eant; but the burial of Peter Cooper will long live in the 
tender memories of the greatest community on the 
Western Hemisphere. No muffled beat of drum, no 
melancholy dirge or dead march played, nor did detach- 
ments of military march with inverted arms and draped 
flags in honor of the dead. There were no gorgeous 
trappings of woe. But the hearts of a sorrowing people 
beat tenderly, while their pent-up feelings found relief 
in silent tears, and flags drooped from the homes of rich 
and poor, from public and private buildings, as the dust 
of New York's good man was borne to its last resting 
place. Even the elements seemed to weep because the 
great lover of his fellow-men was to be hidden from 
those who loved him. Like the hearts of all who knew 
him, and there were few who did not, the sky was 
overcast all day, and the rain fell like tears in the morn- 
ing. 

Grief was universal. Grave faces were everywhere. 
All mourned the loss of as true a friend as humanity 
has ever had. In his case there were none too poor to 
do him reverence. His death was a shock. People 
could hardly realize it, and even while his remains were 
in their midst, they did not feel regret so keenly; but 
when they saw the mortal framework being silently 
borne from the scenes of his busy and kindly life for- 
ever, then there was sadness indeed. 



TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. Ill 



in. 

The casket was taken in a plain hearse to the All 
Souls Unitarian Church, in which he had long been a 
devout worshipper, and laid on a catafalque in front of 
the pulpit, where was placed a bouquet of white lilies, 
white roses and rosebuds. On either side of the plat- 
form on which the pulpit stands, were tall palms and 
banks of flowers, while the baptismal font was also 
filled with flowers. On the carpet of the raised space 
around the reading-desk, were tributes of flowers, one 
of violets and white roses, with the inscription in 
violets, " Our benefactor is at rest." The coffin was so 
placed that the head rested toward the north transept. 

The upper part of the coffin-lid was removed, disclos- 
ing the form of the venerable philanthropist, one hand 
resting on the breast, and the well-known features wear- 
ing a natural, life-like expression, suggestive rather of 
peaceful slumber than of death. On the breast lay a 
single spray of lily of the valley, and on the coffin were 
spread white and red roses, azaleas, calla lilies and 
Easter lilies. The plate bore the name " Peter Cooper," 
in plain Koman letters, and above it were the words, 
* ' Born February 12, 1791," in plain script, while beneath 
was the date of death. 

Some near relatives of the family had brought with 
them, early, baskets of flowers, and they at once began to 
deck the lid of the coffin with them, arranging in a har- 
monious mass the tea roses, including deep jacqueminots 
and Catherine de Medicis. Besides there were hyacinths, 
pansies, lilies of the valley, delicate adjantum ferns and 
smilax. They placed the beautiful tokens of love ten- 
derly upon the coffin, their eyes the while almost blind- 
ed with tears. Touching as this sight was, there was 



112 PETER COOPER. 

another spectacle that was even more so. The eldest 
son of Mr. Hewitt noticed that the hair and whiskers 
had been slightly disarranged by a gentle breeze. 
Silently he took a small comb from his pocket, and lov- 
ingly smoothed back the truant hairs. 

Soon after 9 o'clock there arrived at the church a com- 
mittee of. eighteen of the alumni of the Cooper Union. 
They were dressed in black, with crape upon their left 
arms, and had marched in double file from the Cooper 
Union to the church. Proceeding to the front of the 
church they divided, nine going to the north, and nine 
to the south, where they seated themselves in the pews 
on either side of the pulpit. Four of their number then 
took their places as a guard of honor, and each half 
hour were relieved by four others. 

IV. 

" When the doors were opened, in streamed, slowly 
and almost noiselessly, the multitude all through the 
day. All classes and conditions were represented. 
There were rich and poor, black and white, Christian, 
Hebrew and infidel, young and old. Men, tottering on 
the verge of the grave, walked behind mothers carrying 
their infants, and to whose skirts clung other children. 
Silently the seemingly endless line of humanity passed 
up the south aisle, viewed the remains and passed down 
the north aisle. It was an affecting sight. Many out 
of the thousands who made the sad visit, had received 
of Peter Cooper's bounty. As these passed and saw his 
lifeless body, peacefully resting in the coffin, and real- 
ized that his heart was still in death and could no more 
throb responsive to the appeal for help, the tears welled 
up and could not be repressed. Others, who only knew 
the philanthropist as the world knew him, had occasion 



TBIBUTES TO HIS MEMOBY. 113 

to use their handkerchiefs as they passed out of the 
church. Every person felt that a rare friend was about 
to be taken from them. They were right." 

It was at 10.30 when the alumni and students of the 
Cooper Institute, who had marched from that building 
in procession, entered and passed before the casket, led 
by the scholars of the Ladies' Art School, with Miss 
Susan M. Carter at their head. Each of the young 
ladies carried a single flower, which she reverently laid 
on the lid of the casket. The effect of this simple but 
touching tribute was greatly heightened by the low 
strains of the organ. The ladies were followed by the 
Alumni Association, under President James R. Smith; 
the faculty of the Institute, with Dr. Zachos, the curate, 
at their head; the students of the chemical, literary and 
scientific departments; the members of the cast and 
form architectural and drawing classes, and the mem- 
bers of the Inventors' Institute. The entire delegation 
aggregated 3500. 

v. 

When, at a later hour in the afternoon, the church 
was filled with an assembly embracing delegations from 
all the great municipal bodies and associations, the 
simple but sublime honors with which Christianity dis- 
misses the souls of its believers to the endless life, the 
Rev. Robert Collyer paid the following affectionate tri- 
bute to his revered and beloved friend : 

" We gather about the dust of our dear friend to-day, 
and thank God for his life, I trust, more than we mourn 
his death, who are not bound to. him by the tender ties 
of kinship and the home, to find a joy in our sorrow like 
the joy in harvest, and to say for him what he never felt 
free to say for himself after all these years of noble 
striving. He has fought a good fight; he has finished 



114 PETER COOPER. 

his course; he has kept the faith, and has proven him- 
self a workman who needeth not to be ashamed now 
that the long day's work is done; for by pureness, by 
knowledge, by kindness, by love unfeigned, by word of 
truth, by the power of God, and by the armor of 
righteousness, on the right hand and on the left, he has 
won such reverence as is seldom won by any man in his 
own lifetime. 

''The man whose home was a more sacred shrine than 
any church we can name in our city ; whose presence in 
these later years where men are most eager to be about 
their business, brought a courtesy and deference of air 
akin to that they used to show in the old time to 
princes, and whose name was held dear, even in the 
hamlets of misery and sin, and was spoken, as I know, 
by the poorest and most forlorn, with a tenderness which 
is seldom won by the priests of God; who had learned 
to feel no fear as he went about our streets, because the 
very roughs had become his guardians, and would have 
fallen into ranks about him in any danger, and held 
their lives in pawn for his safety; whose white head 
was indeed a crown of glory, because it was found in 
the way of righteousness, and whose presence wherever 
he went lay like a bar of sunshine across a dark and 
troubled day, so that I have seen it light up some thou- 
sands of care-worn faces and send waves of sweet 
laughter rippling from heart to heart in a moment of 
time, as if they were saying, who looked on him, 'It 
cannot be so hard a world as we thought it was, since 
Peter Cooper stays in it to give it his benediction.' 
The man whose simplest speech in the Institute, touched 
with the hesitanc}^ of more than fourscore and ten 
years, went to the heart more potently than the choicest 
eloquence of other men, and could never have been 



TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 115 

matched to his lovers and friends by any speech of a 
monarch from his throne, and who — all blessings rest 
on him for that also — entered as sweetly into the enjoy- 
ment of it, and the joy, as we did who heard him; and 
yet never through the spirit which tarnishes such speech 
now and then in our great benefactors, and creates the 
suspicion that they may still be proud of their humility 
when they have shorn themselves of all other pride; but 
through the beautiful innocence and simplicity which, 
ever since I knew him, was native to his heart, and 
clasping the latest years with the earliest, compelled us 
all to say, ' Of such is the kingdom of heaven/ 

1 ' He brought back to my memory when I would see 
him that good apostle Eliot who, when he was a very 
old man, and a friend asked him how he fared, said : 
1 My understanding is not what it was some years ago, 
and my memory fails me a little and my speech, but I 
thank God my charity holds out well and grows.' So 
he might have said. 

" I love to think, as we prepare to bear his dust to the 
burial, of his absolute life-long integrity. Here was a 
man whose word was so divine to him; that his bond be- 
came a memorandum. 

"I love to remember again the wisdom which lay 
within his noble gift to our city and our land. 

M ' The great object that I desire to accomplish by the 
erection of this institution,' he says, in the scroll hidden 
away in the corner-stone, ' is to open the avenues of 
scientific knowledge to the youth of our city and coun- 
try, and so unfold the balance of nature, that the young 
may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its blessings, and 
learn to love the Author from whom cometh every good 
and perfect gift.' He wanted no such monument as 
we would have built for him gladly. He was wise in 



116 PETER COOPER. 

that, because he was so modest and simple, he has such 
a monument as no art could contrive built by his own 
hands ; but those words should be graven on it in letters 
of gold for all men to read until this island falls back to 
a heap of ruins. 

"Dear friends who must sorrow as we cannot sor- 
row for this parting, who cannot remember when he 
was not with you, who will dwell in your home in the 
sweet way no more, while the long use and unit of his 
life will still hold the ear to listen for his voice, and the 
hand ready for all tender offices, we cannot ask you not 
to mourn, for then we should be less than human, while 
he was so human we all loved ; but while we sorrow 
with you we can bid you be comforted, and wait for the 
day, near at hand, when your sorrow will give place to 
a tender joy. The life he lived so full on earth is con- 
summated in heaven now, and crowned. This is not a 
memory you will cherish, but a living presence while 
you live and forever more. That divine word comes 
true again, the Master said, ' He that liveth and be- 
lie veth in me shall never die, for life is ever lord of 
death, and love can never lose its own.' " 

VI. 

A vast procession moved down Broadway, bearing 
the precious dust forever from the great city w 7 hose 
million hearts uttered their tenderest benedictions on 
the memory of its best citizen. 



THE BOOKS ARE BEAUTIFUL. 
SO THEY ALL SAY. 

Many thanks for the truly charming little Frederick. In- 
dependent of its intrinsic value, it possesses in printing, bind- 
ing, and general get-up all the daintiness and attractive 
beauty that the title of " Elzevir" implies. And then, at the 
nominal price, it cannot help selling by the hundred thou- 
sand. Let me cordially congratulate you on having struck 
the right vein. Any lady or gentleman may be proud of 
owning such a little treasure of a volume, which combines 
the utile with the dulce. While I regretted your reverses in 
the kk Book Exchange," I cannot but admire your pluck in 
not being discouraged; and your experience has been valu- 
able. You have aided much in breaking down the conven- 
tional fifty -per-cent booksellers' profit; and I observe that 
even in England books are now being issued by (and for) the 
million at sixpence, that have heretofore been published by 
the hundred at a pound. As one of the people, I beg cordi- 
ally to thank you for the good you are doing, and sincerely 
trust that your enterprise may meet the success and pros- 
perity it deserves.— Joseph Crosby, Zanesville, O. 

Cheap only in price. — Inquirer, Philadelphia. 

Some very handsome as well as extraordinarily cheap 
work.— Pioneer Press, St. Paul. 

Well printed, on paper of good quality.— Christian Union, 
New York. 

Models of beauty, convenience, and economy.— Journal, 
Belfast, Me. 

An exquisite book for the money.— Herald, Rochester. 

Well printed, at rates ridiculously low.— Times, Brooklyn. 

We cannot too highly recommend the books for their neat 
and tasteful appearance. — Cultivator and Country Gentle- 
man, Albany. 

A really elegant edition. — Post, Boston. 

Pretty volumes, excellent in typography and binding, at 
less than one fourth the cost asked for them usually.— New 
Era, Lancaster, Pa. 

Pretty editions, and the prices are marvels of cheapness.— 
Republican, Springfield, Mass. 

Certainly one of th« most exquisite little volumes.— 
Gazette, Pittsburg. 

Handy and tasteful volumes, at an economy of cost that is 
hardly less than a marvel.— Interior, Chicago. 
I 



DORE'S CELEBRATED 

BIBLE GALLERY. 

The unrivaled cartoons of this most widely famous artist of 
modern times, the most graphic delineator whose pencil has 
ever illustrated the sublime events and truths of the Bible, are 
now for the first time placed within the reach of thousands who 
have longed to possess them. 

Heretofore the battles of the Literary Revolution have been 
fought principally in the interest of choice literature for the 
masses. It is proposed to win also for them the best works of 
the great masters in art, as illustrating choice literature. 

The 52 cartoons and the portrait of the artist, here given, only 
a little time ago could not have been secured, nor anything in 
art to compare with them, for $10. 

The following are elegantly bound in a large quarto volume, 
heavy plate paper, descriptive text by Pollard. Price only $2, 
postpaid. Large discounts to clubs. 

LIST OF CARTOONS. 



The Creation of Light. 

The Death of Abel. 

The Deluge. 

The Trial of Abraham's Faith. 

Joseph Sold by his Brethren. 

The Finding of Moses. 

The Death of the First born. 

Samson and Delilah. 

Boaz and Ruth. 

Judgment of Solomon. 

The Children torn by Bears. 

Esther accusing Haman. 

Daniel Interpreting the Writ- 
ing on the Wall. 

The Nativity. 

Jesus with the Doctors. 

Jesus and the Woman of Sa- 
maria. 

Jesus Healing a Man Sick of 
the Palsy. 

Jesus and His Disciples in the 
Corn-field. 

Christ and the Tribute-money. 

Christ Speaking from a Ship. 

Arrival of the Good Samaritan 
at the Inn. 

Lazarus at the Rich Man's 
House. 

The Widow's Mite. 

The Last Supper. 

The Judas Kiss. 

Peter Denying Christ. 



Jesus Falling Beneath the Cross. 

The Descent from the Cross. 

Adam and Eve Driven out of 
the Garden. 

The Contusion of Tongues. 

Isaac Blessing Jacob. 

Jacob's Dream. 

Joseph makes Himself Known 
to His Brethren. 

The Brazen Serpent. 

Death of Samson. 

David and Goliath, 

Solomon Receiving the Queen of 
Sheba. 

Job and His Friends. 

Jonah Cast Forth by the Whale. 

The Flight into Egypt. 

The Temptation. 

The Buyers and Sellers Driven 
Out of the Temple. 

The Sermon on the Mount. 

Jesus Healing the Sick. 

Jesus Preaching to the Multi- 
tude. 

The Return of the Prodigal Son. 

Jesus Blessing Little Children. 

Jesu^ Praying in the Garden. 

The Crown of Thorns. 

Darkness at the Crucifixion. 

The Burial of Christ. 

The Ascension. 

Portrait of Dore. 

II 



STORIES AND BALLADS 

FOR YOUNG FOLKS. 



By ELLEN TRACY ALDEN. 

A Collection of Stories in Prose, and Stories in Ballads, with 

shorter Poems, Rhymes, and Jingles. With very beautiful and 

appropriate illusrtations by Hopkins. Price, very fine, heavy 

paper, elegantly printed and richly bound in cloth, ebony and 

gold, 50 cents. 

" One of the pleasantest child-books we have seen for many a 
day. Everything in it is good. It is more than good. It comes 
down to child-life with a reality that makes the stories wholly 
enjoyable."— Inter-Ocean, Chicago. 

"Quite a novelty. 'The Old Monsieur's Story' and 'The Czar 
and Carpenter' are tip-top in their way."— The Item, Huntsville, 
Texas. 

"Interesting and instructive enough for grown people to 
read."— Times, St. Charles, Minn. 

" A bright, entertaining book, quite sure to please."— Congrega- 
tionalist, Boston, Mass. 

" An elegant holiday present."— Sentinel, Metamora, 111. 

•'We wish there w T ere more such books for young folks, con- 
taining all the fascination of works of fiction, without the evil 
tendencies of too many modern works,"— Register, Salem, Mass. 

" We have enjoyed reading this little book very much. There 
is a delicacy and refinement about it that would please the most 
fastidious taste. We hope this lady will continue writing, for 
she seems to understand the natures of young people, and shows 
a rare sympathy for their tastes and requirements."— Church 
Union, New York. 

" May claim a large circle of appreciative readers."— Evening 
Journal, Chicago, 111. 

" These stories are told in a natural, vivacious manner that is 
calculated to go to the hearts of children. The titles are taking. 
The latter part is devoted to ' Rhymes and Jingles,' and embraces 
everything, from grave to gay. ' Little Florence ' is a pleasing 
ballad, and one almost hears the rippling baby-laughter and sees 
the sunny head that dances to the writer's rhythm."— Evening 
Express, New York. 

"Bright and entertaining."— Daily Graphic, New York. 

"The little poems will give innocent pleasure if read aloud in 
the home circle."— Sunday School Times, Philadelphia. 

"The stories are told in a graceful and animated style. The 
poems are pleasantly written ; some of them are far in advance 
of what we usually find in such collections. "—Christian Intelli- 
gence, New York, 



The Beautiful Elzevir Editions. 

Elzevir, as of course every lover of beautiful and rare 
books knows, was the name of a family of famous printers 
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who w r ere among 
the first to introduce the handy, charming, and usable small 
volume, contrasting with the unwieldy and unattractive 
quartos and folios of the earlier days, and whose work was 
of such uniform excellence in scholarship and tasteful 
typography that their imprint upon the title-page is today 
enough to secure a high price for any volume. 

In this beautiful and attractive form I propose to issue the 
choicest works in prose and poetry which the English lan- 
guage has produced, as rapidly as the people are prepared 
to pay for them. At the prices given, which a few j^ears ago 
would have been deemed fabulous, everybody can afiord to 
have beautiful books. 

The following books have thus far been published, and are 
now ready for delivery: 

Bacon's Essays, complete. Cloth, 45c. ; half Russia, 60c. 
Carlyle's History of the French Revolution, complete in 2 

vols. Price per vol., cloth, 45 cents; half Rust ia, 60 cents. 
Creasy 's Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, complete in 

1 vol. Cloth, 45 cents; half Russia, 60 cents. 
Life of Frederick the Great. By T. B. Macaulay. Cloth, 18 

cents ; half Russia, 25 cents, 
Green's Larger History of the English People, complete in 5 

vols. Price per vol. , cloth, 40 cents ; half Russia, 50 cents. 
Irving's Crayon Papers, and Life of Irving, by R. H. Stod- 
dard. Cloth, 40 cents; half Russia, 50 cents; extra cloth, 

gilt, gilt edges, 60 cents. 
Irving's The Alhambra. Cloth, 35 cents; half Russia, 45 

cents; extra cloth, gilt, gilt edges, 50 cents. 
Irving's Rip Van Winkle, and Other Sketches. Cloth, 25 

cents; half Russia, 35 cents. Red-line edition, extra 

cloth, gilt, gilt edges, 40 cents. 
The Letters of Junius, complete. Cloth, 45 cents; half 

Russia, 60 cents. 
Schiller's History of the Thirty Years' War in Germany. 

Cloth, 45 cents; half Russia, 60 cents. 
Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Cloth, 18 cents; 

half Russia, 25 cents. 
Numerous other volumes will rapidly appear, including the 
complete writings of Washington Irving in 25 volumes. 

iy 



Library of 
UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE. 

Large Type Edition. 

I have again secured control of the publication of this 
greatest of American Cyclopedias, and therefore am again 
able to adopt, substantially, my old price-list. The present 
are uniform with the old American Book Exchange editions, 
except that the latter issues are improved in quality of 
paper and press-work. All are now ready for delivery. 

This is a verbatim imprint of the 1880 London edition of 
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, with copious additions by 
American editors. It gives an amount of matter about 10 
per cent, more than Appleton's Cyclopaedia, (price in 
cloth, $80.00), and 20 per cent, more than Johnson's Cyclo- 
paedia (price $51.00 in cloth). For the general reader it is 
the best Encyclopaedia ever published, whatever the price. 
Prices for the set of 15 volumes are as follows: 

In extra cloth, $15.00 

In half Russia, $20.00 

In full library sheep, marbled edges, $23.00 
A Cliib Agent wanted in every neighborhood. Large 

discounts given. 

This work, although based upon Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 
whose distinguished merit is widely known differs from it in 
important respects. It could scarcely be expected that an 
Encyclopaedia edited and published for a foreign market 
would give as much prominence to American topics as 
American readers might desire. To supply these and other 
deficiencies the American editors have inserted about 18.000 
titles arranging the whole in a single alphabet. The total 
number of titles is now about 46,000. There are numerous 
illustrations such as are necessary to elucidate the text. 

The superlative value and importance of this great Ency- 
clopaedia lies especially in the fact that it is brought within 
the reach of every one who aspires after knowledge and cul- 
ture. It is really a "Library of Universal Knowledge," 
which brings a liberal education within the reach of every 
plowboy. Every farmer and every mechanic owes it to him- 
self and to his children that such an Encyclopaedia shall 
henceforward form part of the furniture of his home. To 
every intelligent man, an Encyclopaedia is indispensable. 



Library of Universal Knowledge. 

What is most remarkable— really a marvel in book-mak^^ 
—is that all this is accomplished and the work offered in ±6 
handsome volumes for only $15. The additions by the 
American editors supply just what was required to adapt the 
old standard Encyclopaedia to the wants of American fami- 
lies.— The Advance, Chicago, 111. 

It is the crown of the cheap and solid literature movement 
of the day. The original Chambers is valuable. This edition 
is greatly enhanced in value. This places it in the van of the 
Encyclopaedias.— Presbyterian Journal, Philadelphia. 

Contains much matter that has never before made its ap- 
pearance in any Encyclopaedia, and is especially full and 
satisfactory upon American topics. A library of information 
which nobody can afford to be without, and so cheap as to be 
within easy reach of everybody. — Herald, Columbus. 

It is a work of immense value, a companion that answers 
every question and asks none, and it is an exceedingly inter 
esting work for general reading as well as for reference. — 2fte 
Courant, Hartford. 

Foremost among the contributions of our time to the poor 
man's library on the subject of general knowledge.— Chris- 
tian Cynosure, Chicago. 

It is among the very best Encyclopaedias published. It 
is a marvel of cheapness, a whole library in itself. — Metho- 
dist Recorder, Pittsburg, Penn . 

One has only to glance through one of the volumes to see 
how varied and valuable is the material which the American 
editors have added.— Journal, Boston, Mass. 

These additions greatly increase the value of the work 
and make it one of the most comprehensive Encyclopaedias 
extant.— Interior, Chicago, 111. 

They evidently have been prepared with care, and their 
articles seem to contain the latest facts up to the time of 
going to press . Their low price and their comprehensive and 
scholarly value will render them widely popular. —Congre- 
gationalist, Boston, Mass. 

Thus it stands almost unique in literature and justifies in 
the infinity of the matters treated its claim to really represent 
universal knowledge. Ten years ago this work, though in a 
vastly inferior form, could not have been purchased under 
$50. Now the entire 15 volumes, with all the improvements 
made since, and down to the latest possible date, may be had 
for $15. And when it is remembered that each volume con- 
tains nearly a thousand pages, the true magnitude and 
character of the work may be more nearly comprehended.— 
Times, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



CHARLES DICKENS' 

COMPLETE WORKS. 



The New Caxton Illustrated Edition. 



An entirely new edition, printed from new elec- 
trotype plates, large, clear long primer type, about 
200 full page illustrations by the most celebrated 
arists, handsomely bound in cloth, gilt, price, 
$1.00 a volume. The set of 15 volumes complete, 
in neat paper box, $14.00. Elegantly bound in half 
Russia, marbled edges, $27.00. 

Any volume will be sold separately, bound in 
cloth, price, $1.00 

1. PICKWICK PAPERS, 809 pages, 

2. DAVID COPPERFIELD, 854 pages. 

3. MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, 840 pages. 

4. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, 831 pages. 

5. BLEAK HOUSE, 862 pages. 

6. LITTLE DORRIT, 832 pages. 

7. DOMBEY & SON, 840 pages. 

8. OUR MUTUAL FRIEND, 832 pages. 

9. OLIVER TWIST, PICTURES FROM ITALY, AND 

AMERICAN NOTES, 831 pages. 

10. OLD CURIOSITY SHOP AND HARD TIMES, 832 pages. 

11. TALE OF TWO CITIES AND SKETCHES BY BOZ, 

824 pages. 

12. BARNABY RUDGE AND MYSTERY OF EDWIN 

DROOD, 838 pages. 

13. GREAT EXPECTATIONS, UNCOMMERCIAL TRAV- 

ELLER, AND MISCELLANEOUS, 831 pages. 

14. CHRISTMAS STORIES AND REPRINTED PIECES, 

840 pages. 

15. CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND AND MISCELLA- 

NEOUS, 831 pages. 

Libera? discount* to clubs, agents an*3 tbft tradt. 
VII 



CYCLOPAEDIA OF 
ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



A History, Critical and'Biographical, of British and Amer- 
ican Authors, with specimens of their writings, originally- 
edited by Robert Chambers, LL.D. Third edition, revised 
by Robert Carruthers, LL,D. First American edition, un- 
abridged and unaltered. Acme edition, bound in 4 volumes, 
cloth, $2.20; Aldus edition, 4 volumes, half Russia, gilt top, 
price reduced from $4.40 to $3.50. 

This is peculiarly a work worthy of universal circulation. 
It is not only a collection fof rare literary interest, beauty, 
and merit, a concentration of the best productions of 
English and American intellect from the earliest to recent 
times, but is also in a large degree a key and index to all 
other good books in the language, enabling one to see and 
judge for himself which are best worth his reading. 

The type is the same in both editions. The paper in the 
Acme Edition is light, but good. All of my binding is extra 
well done. The cloth binding is very neat, and will serve for 
many years of good usage. The half Russia is more elegant, 
as well as more durable, and to any one who can spare the 
small additional cost it is much more the desirable style. 

The Aldus Edition is printed with extra care, on finer and 
heavier paper, with much wider margins, In this form it is 
one of the handsomest works of high literary merit within 
reach of an ordinary purse. 

It will bring gladness to many a scholar's heart to find that 
this truly admirable work has been brought within the range 
of shallow pockets. The prices are phenomenal, even in 
these days of cheap books.— Times, Philadelphia. 

Indispensable to the library of every well-informed family. 
Frequent and constant reference has convinced us that we 
could sooner dispense with almost any other book.— Sunday 
Herald, Washington, D. C 

It is the handiest compend of its kind we remember to 
have seen. Only one who was born to be a eyclopeedist, and 
trained by experience in the art and mastery of such critical 
compilations, could have performed this task so well. — 
Advance, Chicago. 

The history of letters records no cyclopaedia of the national 
literature of any people which can be reasonably com- 
pared with the work — with its clear type on clear paper, it 
seems to realize the schoolmen's idea of the perfect connec- 
tion of substance and form.— The Living Church, Chicago, IH. 

VIII 



Cyclopedia of Wit and Humor. 

Containing the complete or select writings of those 
whose wit has won them immortal fame. 

Volume I. Containing the Complete works of Charles Lamb, 
in Prose and Verse. Large 12mo, cloth, 80 cents; half Russia, 
red edges. $1.00. Ready. 

Volume II. Containing the Choice Works of Dean Swift, in 
Prose and Verse. Large 12mo, cloth, 80 cents; half Russia, red 
edges, $1.00. Ready. 

Volume III. Containing the Choice Works of Thomas Hood. 
Large 12mo, cloth, 80 cents; half Russia, red edges, $1.00. Ready. 

Volume IV. Containing Christopher North's (Prof. Wilson) 
Noctes Ambrosianae. Large 12mo, cloth, 70 cents; half Russia, 
red edges. 90 cents. Ready soon. 

Volume V. Containing The Adventures of Don Quixote de la 
Mancha, by Cervantes. Translated by Mottoux. 16 characteris- 
tic illustrations, by Hopkins. Large 12mo, cloth, 70 cents, half 
Russia, red edges, 90 cents. Ready Feb. 10. 



Other Books of Choice Humor. 

Studies in Stanzas, Ballads and Broadsides. By Orpheus C. 
Kerr. New acme edition, very beautiful; cloth, 30 cents; half 
Russia, 40 cents; gilt, gilt edges, 40 cents. 

Rip Van Winkle, and Other ^Sketches. By Washington Irving. 
Elzevir edition; cloth, 25 cents; half Russia, 35 cents; red line, 
gilt, gilt edges, 40 cents. 

Irving's Knickerbocker History of New York. Acme edition, 
cloth, 35 cents; Aldus, half Russia, 60 cents. 

M'Fingal. By John Trumbull, with notes by Benson J. Lossing. 
Aldus edition, very fine, extra cloth, 25 cents; half Russia, 50 
cents. 

Charles Lever's Choice Works. Imperial octavo, richly illus- 
trated, extra cloth, ornamented; price reduced from $3.75 to 
$1.75. 

Sayings, Wise and Otherwise. By the author of " Sparrowgrass 
Papers." 16mo, extra cloth, 25 cents. 

Queer Stories and Rhymes for Young Folks. By Mrs. Corbett. 
Profusely illustrated, and richly bound in cloth, 50 cents. 

Munchausen and Gulliver. See Choice Prose for Young Peopie. 



Charles Lamb.— This poet and delightful essayist of quaint, 
peculiar humor and fancy, has won a remarkable place in the 
hearts of the people. Never, says a noted writer, were books 
written in a higher defiance to the conventional pomp of style.. 
A sly hit, a happy pun, a humorous combination, lets the light 
into the intricacies of the subject, and supplies the place of pon- 
derous sentences. Seeking his materials for the most part in the 
common paths of life— often in the humblest— he gives an im- 
portance to everything, and sheds a grace orer all. 



THE LIBRARY MAGAZINE. 

My present monthly magazine, Choice Literature, is virtually 
the successor of The Library Magazine, which I edited and pub- 
lished under The American Book Exchange, and is therefore of 
particular interest to all my patrons. 

In what other periodical can you find within approximately 
the same compass such an array of able, interesting, valuable 
matter? Where else can you find an equal amount of choice 
current literature at less than from five to ten times its cost ? 

I am now able to supply complete sets (also any volumes want- 
ed) of the eight volumes, covering the years 1879-80-81, about 
4300 pages, at the following nominal prices: 

The eight volumes bound in cloth $3 00 

The eight volumes bound in half russia, gilt top. . 4 50 

The following Table of Contents of Volume VIII. is a fair ex- 
ample of the character of the whole: 

Beyond. David Swing. 
A Vermont Ruskin. The Spectator. 
English Orthography. F. A. March, LL.D. 
Study of History. Edward A. Freeman. 
Literary Profession in the South. Margaret J. Preston. 
Beminiscences of the High Church Revival. J. A. Froude. 
^Esthetics in Parliament. Justin McCarthy. 
A Day with Liszt in 1880. H. R. Haweis. 
The Study of Shakespeare. Joseph Crosby. 
Genius and Method. Temple Bar. 
Who wrote " Gil Bias?" Henry Van Laun, 
Morality of the Profession of Letters. R. L. Stevenson. 
Thomas Carlyle. Mrs. Oliphant. 
Political Differentiation. Herbert Spencer. 
Modern Italian Poets. Francis JEIueff er. 
A Night on Mount Washington. Professor G. W. Blaikie. 
Byron in Greece. Temple Bar. 

Carlyle's Lectures on European Culture. Prof. Edw. Dowden. 
What Became of Cromwell? Gentlemen's Magazine. 
United States for Agricultural Settlers. Earl of Airlie. 
Novels and Novel-makers. Good Words. 
How to Read Books. John Dennis. 
William Prescott at Bunker Hill, Robert C. Winthrop. 
First Printed Book Known. M. W. Conway. 
Revised Version of the New Testament. Alex. Roberts. 
Sir David Brewster and Sir J. Herschel. Alex. Strahan. 
Charles Dickens in the Editor's Chair. 
Justice to Beaconsfield. George M. Towle. 
The Sword. Blackwood's Magazine. 
Early Life of Thomas Carlye. J. A. Froude. 
Anecdotes of Bibles. Chambers's Journal. 
The First English Poet, William Allingham. 
Bonaparte. J. R. Seeley. 
Origin of London. Comhill Magazine. 
William Blake. Frederick Wedmore. 
Francis Bret Harte. M. S. V. de V. 
Gossip of an Old Bookworm. W. J. Thorns. 
Cuneiform Writing. W. O. Sproull, Ph.D. 
English and American English. Richard A. Proctor= 
Dogs of Literature. Temple Bar. 
British Census of 1881. Chambers's Journal. 
Great Discovery in Egypt. Saturday Review. 
Another World Down Here. W. Mattieu Williams. 
IX 



ROLLIN'S ANCIENT HISTORY. 

Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthagenians, Assyrians, 
Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Grecians and Macedonians, 
By Charles Rollin. In four large 12mo volumes, nearly 3000 
pages, large clear type, good paper and printing. Price, in 
cloth, $3.20; in half russia, red edges, $4. Now ready. 

For more than a hundred years Rollin's Ancient History has 
ranked with the best of great historical works. The author has 
been especially noted for the intense interest with which he 
clothes his subject, so that his history has found its way into 
the homes of the unlearned, as well as into the library of the 
scholar. The present edition is the latest, handsomest, and best„ 
published in this country, having all the notes and corrections- 
It is in all important respects quite beyond comparison with the 
former American Book Exchange edition. It forms a portion of 
the " Cyclopedia of History" series, and will be included in the 
important " Index of History" now preparing. 



Works of Flavins Joseplius. 

Works of Flavius Josephus, comprising the antiquities of the 
Jews, a history of the Jewish wars, and a life of Josephus, 
written by himself; also dissertations concerning Jesus Christ, 
John the Baptist, James the Just, God's Command to Abraham, 
etc. Translated by Wm. Winston, together with numerous ex- 
planatory notes, a complete index, etc, In one large octavo 
volume, 880 double-column pages. Price, in cloth, $1.60; in half 
russia, red edges, $1.85. Noiv ready. 

The Works of Flavius Josephus, translated by Whiston, is a 
title familiar to every one. As a book of highest historical 
value, of surpassing interest, a companion and interpreter of the 
books of the Bible, it holds a place in literature such as no work 
of modern origin can assume to reach. This is much the best 
edition in the market, and cheaper than the very cheapest. It 
forms Volume V. in the " Cyclopedia of Religious Literature." 



A PRETTY TEMPTATION. 

If the very choicest literature, presented in the most charm- 
ing dress, at a cost that is merely nominal, can tempt the mil- 
lions to indulge in the most delightful and worthiest of all luxu- 
ries—books—I propose to found at least a million libraries within 
the next ten years !— a library to every sixty inhabitants is 
surely not too much. Within three years past the books I have 
sent broadcast more than quadruple the number of those" in the 
Astor Library, and soon the number will pass that of the British 
Museum. 

Delightful old Rip Van Winkle, whom Washington Irving and 
Joe Jefferson have made one of the most famous of American 
characters, gives the title to a volume of one of the choicest 
selections which could possibly be made from American litera- 
ture ; and I challenge any one to show a prettier volume at less 
than many times its cost, than the charming red-line Elzevir 
edition. When you see it you will surely want a copy for your- 
self, and a dozen copies to give away. If you are philanthro- 
pically inclined, and want to "found a library," what better 
could you do than to present a copy of this to some one who 
has not known the luxury of good and beautiful books ? 
11 Plant," thus, a volume and watch it grow ! 

BACON'S FAMOUS ESSAYS. 

Lord Bacon was one of the most extraordinary men of which 
any age can boast. A. scholar, a wit, a lawyer, a judge, a states- 
man, a philosopher; his writings will endure as long as the lan- 
guages in which they were written can be read. His universal 
genius made him master of all the sciences, and his immortal 
writings laid the foundations of the scientific method which has 
changed the philosophy of the world. Prof. Playfair said of 
him: "The power and compass of such a mind must be an 
object of admiration to all succeeding ages." His Essays are a. 
treasury of the deepest knowledge conveyed in a gorgeous and 
energetic style. They continue to be the chosen companion of 
all students and thinkers. In no other writer is so much pro- 
found thought to be found expressed in such splendid eloquence. 
They are published in the delightful Elzevir edition, and also 
included in the Cyclopedia of Choice Prose. 

THE CHOICE OF BOOKS* 

This charming volume, by Chas F. Richardson, has deservedly 
won rank as a most fascinating introduction to the study of 
good literature, and a never-ending incitement and stimulus to 
its pursuit. Its rare strength and beauty are enhanced by the 
copious drafts it makes from the bountiful and noble sources or 
the choicest literature, the great minds of all ages, from Aris- 
totle to Emerson, from Oato to Carlyle, being made tributary to 
the interest of the most entertaining subject. The New Acme 
edition, extra large type, makes as pretty a volume as one need 
wish for. 

XII 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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